Greek Sandals, Roman Candles
by DulcetDreamer
Summary: After swimming into forbidden waters, the mer-prince of the ocean discovers something far more dangerous than any sea monster: he meets the (human) girl of his dreams! As a perilous fate conspires against him, will his taboo admiration be smooth sailing or rocky waters? (Fairytale AU, based off Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid. Percabeth.)
1. The S S Ciccaba Takes a Night Cruise

Annabeth sighed aboard the _S. S. Ciccaba_, taking the crisp night air into her lungs and savoring every breath. It felt _so_ good to be out.

All around them, the dark sea waves were black with night, sprinkled with the light of the stars and moon above. The ocean oscillated the ship back and forth with light, gentle subtly; it was a soothing motion, like a mother rocking her child to sleep. Annabeth decided that these were the greatest, most beautiful waters she had ever laid eyes upon. She rested her hands on the ship's railing and gazed out with tired eyes, reflecting on the events of the day.

"Long evening, eh? I thought that it was never gonna end," Thalia mused as she joined Annabeth.

"Ha, you've got that right!" Annabeth couldn't help but muster a smile, even as bittersweet thoughts drifted through her mind. Thalia was so much more than a bodyguard to her; she was the closest thing Annabeth had to a best friend. With her sleek, polished silver-and-black guard's uniform, spiky-tipped hair (which was totally against the rules, but seeing as how Thalia was the head lieutenant of the entire royal guard, no one really had the guts to call her out on stuff like that), and audacious attitude, Thalia was like no other person Annabeth had met. Sure, they'd had their definite differences- a heated argument between the two wasn't uncommon. But Thalia was the only person who let Annabeth do as she please, even if it was somewhat irrational or against the rules or foolhardy, like sailing out here way past the bay in the middle of the night hours. Sure, it wasn't the best idea, but it wasn't like Annabeth was in any danger. She was completely capable and, with enough willpower and wisdom, was able to weasel her way out of any situation. And with Thalia by your side, you didn't feel much scared of anything.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Thalia inquired as Annabeth stared out into the depths. "Lemme guess, buildings and bricks and Brunellpepsi?"

"Brunelleschi," Annabeth corrected. "One of the most important architects of all time."

"Whatever! Close enough. Regardless, what's on your mind?"

Annabeth struggled to form the words on the tip of her tongue. She couldn't describe how she felt to those around her easily, not even Thalia. These things didn't come easy to her. She mostly lived in her own mind, letting her thoughts babble like a restless brook.

"I just…I wonder what's out there."

"Well, Annabeth. That's easy: water. Lots and lots of water. To the left! To the right! Heck, maybe it comes as a surprise, but guess what? It's even right behind you! Blue, wet liquid-"

"No, you goofball! I know we're in the ocean," she laughed, giving Thalia's arm a playful push. "I mean, the world overall. I've only ever read about it, but that's different from experiencing it, I think."

"Hmm," Thalia pondered. She'd been all over the world, traveling in fierce packs of huntresses and bonding with mysterious gypsies and wandering with vagabonds. Where Annabeth had curled up by the fireplace and admired pictures and tales of faraway places, Thalia had lived it.

"Well, world's a pretty big place. A lot out there, but there's a lot here, too," she eventually answered.

"Yes! Blue, wet liquid," Annabeth teased, spreading her arms to display the surrounding sea.

"You're ridiculous," Thalia laughed. "I meant your kingdom, you dingdong. It's a mighty fine place, y'know. Been a lot of places, but never fancied anywhere as nice as here."

"I know, I know…well, not just that."

"Oh?"

She grew quiet, her stormy-eyed gaze shifting down to the deck floor now.

"What? What else?"

"I just…I want...I guess I just wish I could meet someone who understood me. At least a little bit."

"Don't hold your breath on that one, kiddo," Thalia smiled. "You're the biggest enigma of all time."

Annabeth exchanged the smile with a bittersweet simper of her own.

"Haven't you ever felt just, maybe, the slightest bit misunderstood? Out of place?"

"Well, yeah, but is that really so bad? How is meeting someone who can slam you in a comfortable box and cover you in labels going to help that? Being figured out would be the worst."

That was part of what made Thalia tick; her strong, rebellious identity that was undeniably original, 100% her. She needed no affirmation, no pats-on-the-back to reassure what and who she was. Annabeth couldn't help but feel a smidgeon envious.

They weren't exactly_ close_ by any means, but Annabeth really was thankful for Thalia. She was probably the only person in the world who could stomach Annabeth's self-actualizing soliloquies. But, deep down, she was still just sort of…lonely.

_Lonely? Is that the word?_

Surely not. She'd feel like a selfish brat for all eternity if that's what she was. She had no right to be lonely, having a friend like Thalia and being surrounded by all the nice things she had…and yet, that wretched word was coming pretty darn close to describing her feelings.

_Lonely._

"Ah, you're probably right," Annabeth dropped the subject half-heartedly.

"Probably? Hey, I'm_ always_ right!"

"Ha, no way! _I_ am the one who's always right here!"

The two laughed.

"Hey, about earlier tonight-" Thalia began.

"Please, don't even mention it. That was so awkward," Annabeth rubbed her temples at the memory. "What was my mom even thinking with that one?"

"I dunno, but he was pretty cute. Not that I'm interested or anything."

"I don't care if he's cute or not if he's void of all brains and heart!"

Annabeth was downright offended. She crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks; a bad habit of hers that she'd acquired when she was deep in thought or frustrated.

"Besides, what country did he say he hailed from again?"

"I've got no idea," Thalia admitted. "It sounded made up to me."

"Pfft. Probably was, not that it matters now. Let's not waste any more time thinking about it, agreed?"

"Agreed! But hey, if you want to snag yourself a cute boyfriend, he's ripe for the picking," Thalia winked and peppered her voice with a sing-songy tone to further Annabeth's annoyance.

"No," she strongly defied. "Absolutely not!"

Thalia laughed at her expression.

"Fine, fine! Guess there's plenty of fish in the sea," she gestured.

"I don't care. There's nobody out there for me. I'm no good at all that romance fodder anyways," she decided.

"Aw, don't throw in the metaphorical towel so soon! I'm sure there's gotta be _someone_ out there. Somewhere."

"Ha," Annabeth scoffed. "For all my luck, he's probably not even human!"

"We'll find you a nice alien man," she assured, giving Annabeth a sarcastic pat on the back. "Now, we'd probably better get sailing back, we've been out here for a while. We don't want your mom to be any angrier at you then she needs to be, right?"

Annabeth sighed, in no hurry to return to the palace grounds. She gazed out at the gorgeous abundant surf one last time as Thalia turned to gear the ship up for course back home.

"Thalia," she asked quietly, "Do you think the myths are true?"

"Which ones, Annabeth? Details! You can't just go rattling off whatever's on your mind without some explanation, you kno-"

"The ones about the sea people…the legends of the world below. All the stories my mom kept hidden from me as a little girl."

Chills ran down her spine, a sense of covertness washing over her. Her mother forbade her from discussion about it, claiming it was foolish to even think about it. Considering her mom never kept a thing from her for wisdom's sake, she knew that there was something about the aquatic tales that was a sore subject for her mother, not that she had any clue why. The only reason Annabeth had any inkling about those stories is because of a tattered, abandoned book she'd found as a little girl when she was hiding away in one of the kingdom's numerous libraries.

It was a beautiful book, and was immensely curious to Annabeth. It was the only source material on the subject she'd ever seen in any of the studies. Upon discovering it, she had held the tome in her small hands with a heightened sense of reverence. The rich, blue-colored binding was engraved with fancy patterns and calligraphy-esque embellishments. A lot of craftsmanship had been poured into its creation, making it even more special. The little powder blue gems encrusted into the cover sparkled as brightly as little Annabeth's eyes. _Maritime Fables,_ the title read.

She read the entire book in one sitting, flipping the pages with an insatiable hunger for more. Relishing in stories of unseen utopias and their fishy inhabitants, her wonder was ceaseless. The book found its way into Annabeth's careful hiding; even as young as she was at the time, she knew without question it was special and not to be revealed as she'd never seen anything like it before. Across the course of time, it was pulled out in stealth quite frequently so she could relive the fascination with this unknown. One day, Annabeth had decided to confront her mother on the topic of these stories (whilst not revealing her source, naturally) and was met with scorn. Annabeth's interest in the subject afterwards may have seemed to wane out of appeasement for Queen Athena, but her desires still were buried deep within her heart, her admiration simply dormant.

Thalia grew tense. "What? No. Annabeth, that's just dumb. Come on, your mom- I mean, Queen Athena, her majesty- is the wisest entity to have ever lived, and you know how eager she is to share all the knowledge with you. Don't be silly," Thalia closed the pressing matter as she turned back to prepare the boat for its return.

"Okay," she settled, not satisfied in the least bit. She knew for certain that Thalia knew more, at least about why her mom hated the legends. She had to, having traveled the world, becoming a source of information just as valuable as one of Annabeth's books. But Annabeth knew that Thalia was as stubborn as the most hardheaded of mules, and no amount of coaxing would reveal whatever she was hiding. This was going to take some time.

As they sailed away, she could have sworn she saw a fin or two slip into the deep.

**. . . . . . . .**

She was, without a doubt, the most amazing creature he'd ever seen.

"Oh, this is not good, this is not good at all," the satyr bleated nervously, filled with panic. "Percy! Snap out of it! You're going to be in h-h-huge trouble!"

Percy's navy blue scales glinted and gleamed in the warmth of the surface sunshine as he lay on the sandy shores of Neo-Ogygia.

It was the one place above the ocean he was permitted to go; after all, no humans resided on this island. Plenty of nymphs and satyrs and the like, but no humans. He'd heard legends that this island used to be cursed, but he couldn't imagine that. Everything about this place screamed "paradise." Well, at least if you're into the whole nature thing, like his best friend Grover was.

"Grover, you should have heard her, you should have seen her, she was-"

"No! You should have never, ever swam out there last night, Percy! What if she saw you?!"

"Would have seen me…" Percy repeated dreamily, in a far-off hazy stupor.

"Don't say that like some sort of lovesick guppy! Oh, your tailfins are toast when your dad finds out…wait. She didn't see you, did she?!"

"No," Percy grimaced. "She didn't."

"Thank goodness," Grover sighed with great relief.

"Her name was Annabeth," he cooed, "and she was more beautiful than every siren I've ever met, combined."

"Well, none of that matters now! You're never going to see her- or hear her- or anything, ever again!"

"The best part though was that she actually had a brain, nothing like the shallow mermaid girls I know. All that stuff she was saying? It's everything I've been saying for years that no one gives two splashes about!"

The tide ebbed and flowed, gently caressing his tailfins with warm waves. All of his furry best friend's cries of protest were drowned out as he relished in the memory of the night before. He had been itching to escape from the palace, get away from everyone and everything just for a little bit. Of course, life as the prince of the sea god was nothing short of luxurious, and living in an underwater golden castle, being waited on hand-and-fin was hardly vexing. But despite living in treacherous depths hundreds of leagues below the surface, most of the inhabitants were puddle shallow. Between being saddled with incredible responsibility and having to tolerate the petty behaviors of his subjects, the salty flavors of life had turned stale. He wanted just a momentary, miniature adventure, to keep his senses sharp. He knew that by going out into forbidden waters, he'd be breaking a huge rule, but he figured that swimming on the edge a little couldn't be too harmful, right?

But the adventure had hardly ceased there. He'd never expected to run into the _S.S. Ciccaba_, and certainly didn't plan to become entranced with the remarkable princess it was carrying.

"I'm gonna see her again," Percy announced with feverish determination.

"Is this some new language method for communicating with dolphins? Because I have no idea what you're saying! That's, that's, that's just plain ridiculous!" Grover was on the verge of having a heart attack.

Percy smoothed the scaly, near-translucent little fin that protruded from his left wrist.

"For once in my life, I just want someone to like me for, well, me. Not 'PERCY JACKSON, EXTREME SHARK WRESTLER' or 'PRINCE OF THE OCEAN, PERCY JACSKON.' When she was saying all those things…it's like she was talking right to me."

"What?! What about me?! For the record, I've been best friends with the 'real' you for forever! And besides, how exactly do you plan to see her again? Last I checked, you're a MERMAN and she is a HUMAN and contact between these two groups are absolutely forbidden!" He was emphatic, on the verge of shouting.

Everything the satyr had to say was falling on deaf ears. The boy had already made up his mind. Grover rubbed his temples, fighting off a son-of-Poseidon-induced migraine.

"I don't know how, but I'll see her again. Trust me."


	2. Face-Touching and Other Human Customs

Six buckets of bubble bath might have been overkill, but handmaid Silena Beauregard had no place to argue with a princess.

She sighed as she poured the massive amount of bubble solution into the hot running water at Annabeth's insistence, silently cursing under her breath. "I'd better not get in trouble for this," she muttered. "You'd think she was the daughter of chaos, with all these crazy requests…"

And it was true. Hardly the image of a well-behaved young woman, Annabeth embraced every opportunity to pester her handmaid. It was all in good teasing, of course, and making each other's lives more hectic had become a recent tradition. When Silena first received the news that she would be moving from her beloved position as master of the stables to Annabeth's handmaid (codename for "glorified beautician babysitter"), she was seriously miffed. As a silent, subtle, passive-aggressive stab at revenge, Silena had begun doing little things here and there that she knew would get on Annabeth's nerves.

That was the horse aficionado's first big mistake; Annabeth's playful retaliation escalated from little things, like demanding Silena to routinely sneak in cheeseburgers for dinner, to much more chaotic things, such as forcing her to build the world's largest pillow fort out of every single cushion and headrest Silena could manage to get her hands on, all the while merrily criticizing the "structural faults" of the darn thing. Even despite all the irritations Annabeth had tossed on her plate, Silena couldn't help but develop a sweet spot for the princess. It wasn't so hard to do when you had to be around her so much; after a while, any heated resentment Silena felt evaporated into silent pity. The girl seemed awfully alone and unmistakably distant, much unlike Silena with her hordes of friends.

Silena turned the knob of the hot water off as the tub filled to the point of overflowing, an abundance of bubbles floating haphazardly in the air. The bathroom was colossal and ornate, every inch of it covered in glistening coral stone. The ceiling area above the claw-foot bathtub was domed, depicting a beautifully ornate tiled mosaic of the evening sky. Silena figured that if she were the one taking this bath that she would stay in the water looking up at the mural for so long that she'd shrivel up into a raisin.

With everything all prepared, Silena turned to fetch Annabeth and begin the eternal struggle of getting her ready for tonight's ball. That was, after all, the only reason she'd be "promoted" to this job- she was the only one able to brave the task of miraculously coaxing and beautifying Annabeth for every little event. Without Silena, the princess probably would have shown up to galas and gatherings with rat's nest hair and tattered sweatpants- if she'd show up at all. Yep, it was all thanks to Beauregard's fantastic talents that she could have the honor of dollifying the queen's daughter into "princess standards."

"Lucky me," she grumbled.

**. . .**

"Cheer up," Silena encouraged as she laced up the corset, "tonight's ball is going to be spectacular! The dresses, the music, the dancing! Oh, and the handsome boys," she cooed.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and smirked.

"Tonight's ball is just going to be like every other ball! It's no special," she defied. 

"Well, nothing will ever be special with _that_ attitude, Miss Grumpybloomers."

"I'm sure that at least you will have a fantastic time tonight. You'll have enough fun for the both of us."

"You know what? I hope that, with all my heart, tonight is the most magical night of your life. I hope that something or someone waltzes in there tonight that makes you wonder why you ever thought it was going to be 'like every other ball!' You'll see."

"Don't hold your breath," Annabeth protested. "Because that will never happen."

Silena merely chuckled smugly in response, beginning to curl Annabeth's golden locks of hair.

"Ah, I can see it now! Annabeth Chase, head over heels in love," she grinned maddeningly at the notion.

"_Stop._ Stop it right now," the princess growled, her tone as threating as a wild, ravenous pack of hungry lions.

"Well, whatever you do, don't lay eyes on Beckendorf," Silena giggled, "I've got my sights set on that one."

"The blacksmith's apprentice?"

"No, the librarian," Silena's voice oozed with sarcasm. "Yes, the blacksmith boy! Duh!"

"Hey, I have a lot of people to keep track of," Annabeth defended. "I'm just glad I remembered who he is-"

"How could you forget? He's _so_ dreamy," the hopeless romantic crooned.

Annabeth sighed. When it came to matters of the heart, Silena was obsessed. Annabeth knew she'd never, ever be batting her eyelashes and falling all over herself thanks to some dumb boy. No way, no how! As far as she was concerned, all boys were boring and shallow and rude and callous and insensitive and her handmaid would surely slap her upside the head if she said any of this out loud.

**. . .**

A person hadn't seen true elegance until they'd seen Athena's ballroom.

It seemed to be as large as the sky itself, holding impossible amounts of people. The ballroom was primarily white and gold, refurbished some time ago to a rococo theme. Breathtaking arches coupled with shimmery, silky golden curtains surrounded every inch of the walls. Guests poured in and out of its beautiful presence, descending and ascending the marble staircase, milling about and making merriment. Intertwined with the banisters of the ostentatious staircase were laurel branches of olives, and the centerpiece of the entire room was the massive crystal chandelier hanging above it all.

None of this, however, was particularly interesting to Annabeth; from an architectural standpoint, definitely. But after you've analyzed every square inch of a room and practically grown up in it, the initial luster of the room had dulled.

Silena had done a top-notch job on preparing Annabeth for the event; her blonde curls cascaded down the sides of her face as she sat looking rather bored in a concealed corner. She'd been dressed in a blue ball gown, looking completely frilly and uncomfortable in layers upon layers of chiffon. There was an element of understated beauty about the girl; you might have to look twice, but the allure was definitely there, regardless to whether she was aware of it or not.

Her eyes lazily scanned the room to see a variety of sights; she saw Thalia conversing with some of her fellow cadets, the blacksmith boy being a total ham and succeeding at wooing her handmaid, and the nasty food- foie gras _again_?! Were they trying to starve the guests to death? Annabeth longed for something along the fantastically fancy lines of "cheeseburger" or "pepperoni pizza," but seeing how tonight was a special occasion, it didn't look like she'd be able to have Silena snag anything good for her to eat.

She exchanged several polite "hello"s and "how do you do"s and "ah, lovely this time of year, isn't it"s. A couple of people asked her the usual tiresome questions; studies, courting, how lucky she was, etc.. Annabeth wished she could have worn a shirt that said "if it's the first thing that comes to your mind, don't say it."

It was only an hour in when Annabeth decided she had seen quite enough.

Her eyes darted across the gigantic room, scanning for anyone who she'd need to avoid. She couldn't take Thalia with her, not tonight- dragging her out of the crowd would cause too much stir. No, she had to go alone.

Quickly, she excused herself out a discreet side exit, acting as calmly and collect and inconspicuous as possible. Not that anyone was paying any attention, so it wasn't the most difficult task in the world, but if her mother were to find out…

No. She couldn't even chalk that up as a possibility.

Making her way through the lobby outside of the ballroom, she maneuvered around incoming trays of smelly gourmet food and weaseled her way through party guests and eventually found herself roaming the outside gardens.

She slipped off her shoes and broke into a faster pace, happily escaping into the night.

The scent of the sea salt hung in the air as she snuck away to the pier. She couldn't risk taking the _S. S. Ciccaba_; it was too big, and the danger of exposure would be high. She decided to take a little dinghy, stifling a giggle at the word. "Dinghy." Who decided to call it that? She smiled as she untied the numerous ribbons and unlatched pearl strings and shed enough ruffles to suffocate a small cat until she was clad only in her petticoat and corset. When she realized she was about to embark out on a rebellious cruise in what was basically her underclothes, she understood the bravarity of her actions, but couldn't care less.

The ocean was calling to her, and she was answering.

**. . .**

He'd lucked out beyond belief.

It couldn't be so simple, he'd thought to himself. Just swimming out there once more, hoping she'd come back? Yeah, right. Like she'd just come right back to the same place once again…besides, that scary, protective soldier girl would be with her, and if the tales he'd heard about humans were true, the Thalia girl would fire her red-hot laser beams at him, or maybe she'd slash through him with razor sharp claws like he was a sea sponge. He'd be done for.

But when he looked up from his watery world, averting his gaze to the surface above to see her all alone in the little boat with nary another soul around for miles, he was astonished at his prosperity.

The waters were calm tonight, so he couldn't emerge and break the surface without being seen.

_The moment of truth._

Oh, what Amphitrite's name was he thinking?! The reality of his decision struck him. What was he supposed to say? How would she react, how would he appear to her? Before he'd seen her, he'd never seen another human before, but he'd heard stories. They had said that humans were wretchedly ugly beasts, disgusting monstrosities who existed to pollute, capture, and conquer. But when he saw Annabeth, he had been gazing upon the most alluring, gentle creature he'd ever seen. What had she heard about his kind? Did she even know they existed?

_What do I say, what do I say?_

After all, what would one say in a scenario like this? "I come in peace!" or "hello, just the prince of the sea passing through!" or "holy smokes, you're amazing."

He took a gulp before making his leap- er, swim- of faith.

**. . .**

Annabeth didn't even hear him break the surface of the water.

"Um, h-hi," came a voice from the dark. She almost jumped out of her skin, whipping her head around hurriedly to find the source.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to, uh, scare you."

From the side of the boat, an individual so magnificent appeared that she gasped, awe-struck.

He was not quite a boy, but not quite a man. He had these unreal eyes, more vibrant and luminescent than anything she'd seen. They reflected every shade of green, so captivatingly stark they were almost hypnotic. He had a nervous, genuine smile that exuded warmth and revealed his razor sharp teeth, like those of a shark's. His soaking wet, dark-as-night locks of hair clung to his cheekbones. From the sides of his face, right in front of his ears, two fins protruded from each respective side. They were shimmery, almost iridescent, and about six inches length-wise. Three flaps of skin that she presumed to be gills rested at the base of each side of his neck. His cheeks looked warm and flushed, colored with a light peony pink. Disoriented, she could still see the fins of his tail sticking up out of the water from a small distance. He was, through and through, a genuine merman.

"You're gorgeous," she whispered, awestruck.

His eyes grew wide, his cheeks flushing more. He stammered, looking for words to say as she was completely breath taken.

"Is this an illusion? Am I making this up?" she mumbled to herself, her hand beginning to act on its own as it instinctively reached out to touch him. Gently, she ran her fingers across the silky smooth fin on the left side of his face, completely unaware of how intensely red he was turning. Her fingers shivered at the contact, the reaffirmation that he was there in front of her.

"Uh…"

Not sure of how to react and entirely lost on what to say, he decided that he should do the same. He slowly reached out, caressing the side of her cheek.

"Huh?" she maundered, confused.

"Oh, sorry, should I stop, or?...I wasn't sure if this was some kind of human greeting custom or something."

She stared at him in silence for a moment, dumbfounded, before her senses came rushing back to her and she burst out into peals of laughter.

"I can't believe this!" she shouted jubilantly, wiping a stray tear away from her laughing outburst. "I'm so sorry, what am I doing? I'm Annabeth Chase," she smiled, "and I normally don't touch people's faces when I meet them. That's not a human custom thing, I promise."

"I'm Percy Jackson," he beamed from ear to ear, his fins twitching excitedly. "And I don't usually touch people's faces either, I guess."

They chuckled together, reeling from the absurdity of the moment.

"Oh boy, have I got some questions for you!"

"Fire away," Percy said, "but I bet I have two times as questions many about you."

"We'll see about that," she returned smugly, a thousand percent sure that she was about to bore him to tears.

And this how Annabeth Chase met and became enchanted with Percy Jackson, talking and questioning and answering and laughing into the latest hours of the night, all the while blissfully unaware of the horrible fate waiting for her as soon as she set foot back on shore.


	3. Even Princesses Get Grounded

**Author's Note: Hi guys! Quick side note: I realize now that I haven't picked the most original idea to write a story around, especially after just coming across some_ amazing_ Little Mermaid based PJO fanfics, but I'm glad you're reading this humble little one anyways! It was by pure coincidence that I ended up uploading this before seeing those and I hope nobody thinks I'm being a copycat or anything. I promise that I've put my own twist on the story that you'll see as it progresses. Thank you for reading this!**

* * *

Annabeth hadn't planned on staying out all night, honestly. She only wanted a little fresh air, thirty minutes away at maximum. But she also hadn't planned to rendezvous with a merman, either.

By the time she had any idea how many hours had passed, the daylight was getting ready to pierce through the night sky. She'd been so stupid!

She was in _so_ much trouble. Every single last bit of it was worth it.

A fuming Thalia Grace had been waiting on the shore sporting a scowl and two balled-up fists.

"You have no idea how mad I am at you right now," she said furiously, "you've got no clue."

Under normal circumstances, maybe Annabeth would have been a little frightened at how enraged Thalia was, but she was hardly bothered. She was still riding on a euphoric high, coasting on a wave of pure bliss. She couldn't believe it. The_ Maritime Fables_, all her suspicions against her mother's words, all her hopes and dreams! They were all real!

"And what, now you wash up on the shore now smiling like an idiot?! Do you know how worried everyone is right now?! They've been searching up and down every last corner, through every little nook and cranny, looking for _you!_"

"Well," Annabeth tried to snap herself back to reality, "You found me."

"No. Correction," Thalia snapped, "I found a pile of your clothing on the pier, right next to where a boat should have been."

"Why didn't you come after me, then?"

"Because, Princess, I figured if you weren't dead already that you would die the second you set your spoiled little feet back on dry land and your mother's wrath poured down on you!"

"Harsh words, but true. You knew I was safe, though. You would have been out there searching for me if you didn't."

Thalia's mouth was agape, shocked.

"I can't believe you- I! You have the audacity to stand here and tell me-"

"You're the only one who even _knows_ about my little trips."

"Because I am ALWAYS right next to you when we go! What were you even doing out there for so long?!"

"Oh, nothing much." That had to be the biggest understatement in the universe, and Thalia knew it, too. She narrowed her eyes and Annabeth though she was going to press the issue, but with much surprise, she didn't.

"I'll save my breath. Your mom has it in for you anyway."

**. . .**

"Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth," her mother's voice began.

"Mom," was the only timid response she could muster.

"You nearly sent everyone into a panic attack," she said, sounding only mildly frustrated. "But I knew better."

"You…what?"

"I know when my daughter's up to something. So, when did you acquire this newfound fascination with sailing, anyways?"

Annabeth was speechless. How did her mom know about her little trips?! She'd covered her tracks so well, so precisely. There was no way…

"I…"

"Yes? You?"

The princess took a gulp, her gaze not able to meet her mother's calculating eyes and instead focusing on the glinting golden laurels in her hair.

"I'm sorry, mom. I really am."

"Something happened. I can see it in your eyes."

"W-what?!"

"I'm not stupid. Quite the opposite, actually. I know that look. They're sparkling, Annabeth. They're lit up like the first time you finished the first tapestry you ever wove, like the time I let you redesign the garden pavilion to your liking, like you just finished the most excellent book….they're glowing with new wisdom. They're shining with wonder."

Annabeth's heart sunk. She knew she was caught. You can't keep _anything_ from Athena.

"I'll find out, of course. It's only a matter of when. So? Would you like me to know now, from your own mouth, or little bit later on my own account?"

Her lips were sealed. There was no way she could reveal the greatest thing that had ever happened to her.

"I'm sorry," was all Annabeth could say.

**. . .**

That is exactly how Annabeth Chase was sent to her room with no hope of being let out for quite a long time. _Who ever heard of a princess getting grounded?!_ she thought, disgruntled. Still, she was completely in a mental paradise. Holy cow, he was so beautiful. He was so real. _They_ were real. An entire world, a whole other empire, a new culture- it was all there, concealed from her knowledge this whole time. But now, things were different. She knew, and she was giddy with this new awareness. He had told her so, so much, and yet, he'd barely scraped the surface. There was an infinite amount to learn.

She was sitting in her room in front of the gaudy vanity as Silena silently brushed through her curls. Annabeth was positive that Silena would be furious for having to be up at this hour; it was nearing four in the morning! No doubt, she had been searching for her in her absence. To Annabeth's surprise, Silena didn't say anything. She didn't bark at her for being foolish, didn't tell her she was stupid and selfish. Just the sounds of the crickets chirping outside and the brush running through Annabeth's tresses.

"Tell me," Silena said.

"Huh?" Annabeth was taken back at the suddenness. "Tell you what?"

"You know! _Tell me_!"

"I don't know what you're-"

"Here you are, up to your waist in trouble, but you're still so darn happy! You're practically beaming with happiness!"

"I-I am?!"

"Duh! If there's one thing I know," Silena chided, "It's a girl who's had a very enchanting evening." She broke into a devilish grin, her eyes crinkling with impishness.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because girls in love are my specialty!"

"What?! You can't fall in love that fast! Impossible! Infatuation, maybe, but love would just be ridiculous!-"

"A-ha! So the princess admits something happened!"

"Ugh," Annabeth rubbed her temples. "If I didn't tell my own mother, what makes you think I'm going to tell you?"

"Easy. I'll make your life miserable. I will devote every single waking moment of my existence into annoying you until you tell me what happened. I won't even let you out of this room- not now, not ever! Don't deprive me of my favorite thing in life, Annabeth Chase." She waged an accusing finger in Annabeth's face.

"Your favorite thing in life? And, that would be?"

"THE DETAILS!"

Annabeth sighed, exasperated. "You won't tell a soul?"

"Pinky promise."

She was silent for a moment, thinking it over. She knew Silena's threat was not an idle one. There would be no escaping this. She hurried over and shut the balcony windows before hurrying back to her cushiony velvet chair.

"Alright," she gave up, "I'll tell you; you were right. You were absolutely right, Beauregard."

"Yay!" Silena clapped her hands together, victorious. "Wait, about what again?"

"This really was the best night ever. Oh, and I…I guess I met somebody."

Silena picked up a cushion and squealed into it. Without the pillow to muffle her scream, every single person within a 10 mile radius would have been woken up. Annabeth just rolled her eyes.

"This. Is. So. Exciting! Where did you go?! Who was it?!"

"Well, I went sailing and-"

The handmaid mockingly- or at least, Annabeth hoped it wasn't _all _real- threw her arm across her forehead in the most dramatic gesture the world had ever seen, her dark hair flying everywhere.

"The young princess goes sailing to reunite with her secret paramour! Ah, so romantic!"

"It wasn't like that at all!" Annabeth snapped. "What really happened is…look, it'll sound crazy-"

"Love is crazy," Silena said, beaming from ear to ear. "It's not supposed to make sense."

"Fine, whatever, sure. But…I met a merman."

Most people would have probably laughed at her, or suggested some nice places to receive a mental evaluation, but Silena Beauregard was taking this very seriously. Her eyes widened, her lips parting to release an excited gasp.

"What was he like? Oh, tell me EVERYTHING!"

It was five-thirty AM before a completely exhausted Annabeth had finished telling her handmaid what probably sounded like a fairytale and caused her to almost swoon herself into a coma. It was only after that was she able to usher Silena out and get some rest.

**. . .**

She replayed the events of the night over and over into her head as she lie under the ruffly, airy canopy of her bed.

She recalled a few of the mundane details she'd shared with him about herself: she loved reading, had a knack for crafty stuff, was obsessed with owls (he didn't know what those were, naturally), and could build anything given enough time and resources. One important little factoid she hadn't shared: her status as princess.

_That didn't matter_, she thought. _It's such a small portion of who I am._

For the first time in forever, she'd been able to gush about the things she loved and was passionate about with someone actually listening. Grant it, he didn't exactly seem like he was following with half of it, but she could tell he was trying and engaged. Likewise, she hung on his every word. He'd told her stories of fantastic annual migration festivals, the celebration of when the great humpback whales would return from the polar waters. He'd described the beautiful reefs and amazing species that lived there, told her tales of great battles with frenzying sharks and blood thirsty squids. His words breathed new life into her world, like she was truly living for the first time.

She had laughed so hard her sides ached when she had to explain what a cheeseburger was. And explaining what a horrible creature a spider was to someone who had no idea of the concept because they lived leagues below the surface? Tiring feat. She told him about the traditions of the seasons, the food on dry land, and the creatures that roamed the earth. She also cleared up some ridiculous misconceptions he'd had about her kind- razor sharp claws and super laser beams? She had no idea where he'd even begin to get those ideas.

She hadn't realized it was time to go until after it was hours too late.

_Maybe if you'd meet my friend Thalia, you might think that! If anyone was able to shoot laser beams, I'd think it was her,_ she'd laughed before freezing. _Thalia… How long have we been talking like this?! I'm going to be in HUGE trouble._

_Wait, don't go! I mean, we've only just met! You can't leave now, _he urged her. _I-I mean, there is still so much for us to talk about, right? I'd say we'd be wasting a pretty darn good learning opportunity, and you know what adults are always saying about those._

She would have gladly stayed the whole night if she could. When he flashed her that mischievous smile, she definitely considered it.

_Don't worry_, she promised. _I'll be back again for sure. Tomorrow night, sunset?_

He smiled. _Tomorrow night, sunset._

_Bye, Percy_, she bit a bittersweet farewell. _I'll see you later._

_Wouldn't miss it for the world,_ he assured.

**. . .**

The koi fish swam circles around the daydreaming boy's head.

_Yo, Percy? Are you getting a word of this?_

"…huh? You say something?"

_Dude, you've been acting so weird today._

"Oh."

_That's all you have to say about it? Where were you last night, anyway?_

Stray rays of sunlight caressed the gold interior of the underwater palace, shooting of beams of sparkling gold light everywhere. You'd have thought King Midas was the interior designer for this place with as gaudy as it was, sheesh.

It was spacy and open, and outside of the private rooms in the inner part of the castle, there were very few actual walls concealing anything. Rows and rows of massive golden columns stood in uniform lines everywhere you looked. Most things in Atlantis were fashioned in the same unconventional style, like whatever undersea architect designed it couldn't wrap his head around the idea of cranking out a few gold bricks and providing some decent privacy-

Architecture…

Percy got lost in a swirling sea of thoughts again, drifting away in a sea of Annabeth.

_Hey! HEY! Snap out of it!_

"Ow!"

A swift, slippery flipper slapped his cheek, bringing him back to consciousness.

_We might be underwater, but your head is waaaaay up in the clouds._

"How'd you know?"

_Figure of speech…wait, is that literally where your head is at? Did you go up to surface again or something?_

"Yes, actually. And as long as you don't tell my dad, I'm going there again tonight."

_That's awesome! What is it like up there?_

"Oh man, Frank, I wish you could see it- it rules. But I met THE coolest girl in the history of girls."

_Do you mean, like, a human girl?_

"Yeah."

_Sweet. You know, there's this legend in my family that my ancestors could shape shift into humans._

"Yeah right, and I also hear that the Arctic waters are warm and cozy this time of year," Percy teased.

_Hey! I'm telling the truth!_

They exchanged laughs.

"Wow…what I would give for a power like that," the prince sighed.

_Don't give up hope! I'm sure there's a way somehow. _

"Probably not without giving my dad a heart attack."

_I dunno, maybe if you could just go for a little bit. He didn't even notice you were gone last night, anyway._

"Gee thanks, dad." Percy sighed. His dad was always busy with one thing or another.

_Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to be rude or anything, _Frank pleaded apologetically.

"S'all good. But yeah, human shape-shifting? I'd better be the first to know when you figure that out."

**. . .**

She was being violently shaken, receiving the most jarring wake-up call in the history of slumber.

"Huh? Silena? What are you…"

"Up, up, up!"

She dragged a very sleepy Annabeth out of bed and began working her magic with haste. Between the slapping of powdery brushes against her face and hair braiding so quick that it would make an entire group of Girl Scouts jealous, Annabeth was dazed, tired, and confused.

"Without my help, you'd totally screw this up, and I'll be dead before I let Dreamy-Gills get away from you." Silena was a whirlwind force to be reckoned with, tossing the still yawning girl together. "Your little nap took _ages_! Look outside, it's almost sunset. You and your darn sleeping cycles," she shook her head solemnly in disapproval.

In the blink of an eye, Annabeth Chase was ready to embark on yet another sailing expedition.

"Hey," she said, disoriented from the glamor storm known as Hurricane Silena, "Did you forget? I can't leave!"

"And you're going to let a little thing like that stop you?"

She scoffed as she flung the massive glass windows open, dragging Annabeth out onto the balcony.

"Just leave the distractions to me! Oh, and Charlie, too."

"Charlie?"

A voice beckoned from the ground. Annabeth stepped forward, leaning against the railing and peering down to see the blacksmith boy.

"Hey, your majesty," he smiled.

Annabeth whipped her head back around towards her handmaid.

"You're getting blacksmith Beckendorf to help?! Silena, you guys could get in big trouble-"

"Ah? What's that? Do you hear it? It sounds like….the sound of me not caring!"

She released a peal of laughter so contagious, even the uptight princess had to crack a smile.

"Mind to run the plan by me?"

"No, no time for that."

"I'm not just going to blindly follow-"

"Yes! Yes, you ARE just going to blindly follow it. That is part of the plan," she waged her eyebrows. "Don't doubt the plan. Now go!"

Silena gave Annabeth a push towards the railing, urging her to climb over and scale down the flimsy ladder propped up against it.

"I've lost it," Annabeth mumbled as she shimmied down, "I've completely lost it."


	4. Thalia Grace: Extreme Eavesdropper

Thalia had begun to feel kind of guilty for the way she'd treated Annabeth. She'd thought it over, replaying the scene over and over in her head. Yeah, it was no way to treat royalty, but far moreso, it was certainly no way to treat a friend. Thalia swallowed her monstrous pride as she made her way up the many glittering staircases to the bedchambers, where she knew the grounded Annabeth would be.

Standing outside the closed door, she took a deep breath, mentally ran through what she was going to say, and raised her fist to knock on the door. She paused right before making any noise, having heard a voice from within that was not Annabeth's.

_Oh_, Thalia recognized, scrunching up her nose in disgust, _the stable master girl._

She had to keep reminding herself that Silena Beauregard was now Annabeth's assistant, but she'd always just be the obnoxious horse chick to Thalia. What a drama queen. Thalia had become accustom to dealing with that shrill girl's theatrics rather often, and couldn't be more thankful that she'd been kicked out of her previous job. The new stable master, a mellow girl named Hazel Levesque, was a breath of fresh air in comparison to that vindictive Barbie.

Back some time ago, Thalia had witnessed how well Silena managed to throw Annabeth together before the Feast of Fortuna, leading her to come up with a marvelous plan. Because stubborn Annabeth had been hidden away reading somewhere fifteen minutes before the festival, not in any shape to attend a party, it was decided that- to Annabeth's happiness- that she wouldn't be able to go. Cue Silena, who had been riding through on her Pegasus to the parade. "We can fix you up, no problem," she had cheered with that stupid voice that was so taxing on Thalia's nerves. Sure enough, in no time at all, Annabeth looked pretty darn great, and the person beautifying her came away with neither injury nor complaint- a first in history. That's when Thalia decided to slip the word to Athena that Silena Beauregard should be prompted to handmaid and boom!- no more having to deal with her at the stables! Thalia had been having a mighty good laugh about that ever since.

But as she stood outside Annabeth's door, eavesdropping on Silena, she wasn't laughing anymore.

"_Without my help, you'd totally screw this up, and I'll be dead before I let Dreamy-Gills get away from you,"_ she chimed.

What? What was she talking about? Who was she talking about? Thalia prided herself on knowing and keeping tabs on every single person in this entire kingdom, but not a single one of them with the nickname 'Dreamy-Gills.'

"_Your little nap took ages! Look outside, it's almost sunset. You and your darn sleeping cycles,"_ Silena continued.

The statement was followed by a different voice: Annabeth's.

"_Hey, did you forget? I can't leave!"_

"_And you're going to let a little thing like that stop you?"_

Thalia Grace was ready to wring the handmaid by the neck.

They were moving farther and farther away from the door, as their voices drifted away and became more muffled. Thalia had to really strain herself to hear anything, but there was no mistaking the sound of the balcony doors opening.

They were sneaking out. There was no doubt about it.

Every feeling of apology that Thalia had fostered before had disappeared and been replaced by feelings of _Annabeth Chase You Are In So Much Trouble_ and _I Am Going To Kill Silena._

She knew that she could have very well just kicked the door open and caught them in the act right then and there, but curiosity had taken hold of her and possessed an unwavering grip; she wanted to know the secret Annabeth had hidden from her but entrusted with that airhead with.

She acted quickly; if they were sneaking out the back balcony, she would have to run with lightning speed to be able to make it out through one of the bottom exits from the main corridor down the stairs. There was no guarantee that she'd be able to tail them, but she hadn't been promoted to her position for nothing.

Turning around and sprinting down the gargantuan hallways, she rushed back to the east staircase. She took a tight grip on the massive railing and flung herself onto it. She pushed off the wall, the silvery, slick fabric of her pants cooperating with her mission; she began sliding down the curved railing with incredible acceleration.

She whizzed by hundreds of stairs, taking the world's most extreme slide ride.

The east stairway and the west stairway were connected at the middle, spilling out into one massive stairway. Thalia propelled herself across the intersection point of her stairway and the main stairway, continuing her chase. A difficult maneuver, but Thalia was skilled in many ways, even the art of stairway surfing.

Jolts surged through her ankles as she hit the ground running. She pulled the absurdly massive doors open and slipped out as fast as she could, treading through one of the many gardens.

"HEY!" exclaimed a very irritated Katie Gardner, head of the kingdom's agriculture program, as Thalia blurred through her snapdragon garden. Katie furiously threw down her spade. "What's the big idea?!"

"Sorry about your dumb flowers," Thalia screamed back, "But I've got a princess to catch!"

She launched herself over the river running through the garden, maneuvered through shrubberies and statues of every sort, and somersaulted over the small, decorative gate partition that enclosed the garden. All of it she performed with impressive and unmistakable grace, living up to her surname's sake.

Making her way to the sands of the shore area, she'd caught up with remarkable time.

She threw her hood over her signature locks of spiky hair and slunk behind a stock of lumber, which were being held there to repair the open holes in the rickety old dock whenever it was needed. The crappy thing had fallen into disarray, and it seemed as though Queen Athena didn't give two hoots about what happened to it. The fishermen and other rare users of naval craft had to patch up the boards themselves when it became unusable. Thalia knew this personally from doing it a couple of times in order to go sailing with Annabeth.

Looking around, she realized there was next to nobody around. People seemed to avoid the ocean- not just the ocean, the beach area in general- and didn't come anywhere near it if they could help it. It was an unspoken sort of thing. Because of this, it wasn't hard to spy Charles Beckendorf. He was anchoring one of the ships used for goods transportation. They never went very far, usually just the next kingdom over. Queen Athena's lands were rich in celestial bronze, and blacksmiths and merchants alike would shell out high prices for the resource. However, it wasn't celestial bronze he was transporting: it was the princess, hidden in a swaddling collective of dark robes, but Thalia knew better. Hiding from General Grace wasn't easy.

What was Annabeth doing with him? She didn't like him romantically, _no way_. There was no way that it would be possible. Annabeth couldn't care less about boys. Even if she did like the blacksmith, Silena would sooner find a way to stab her with lipstick and become the world's first Make-up Murderer before she let Beckendorf and Chase together. She never heard him called "Dreamy-Gills," either, and she had no reason to suspect that was even a nickname for him.

Thalia easily could have charged out, announcing that Beckendorf was engaging in highly suspicious behavior and arrest him on the spot and dragging he and the princess back to the Queen, but she decided against it.

She watched as Beckendorf disembarked the ship, carrying Annabeth inside. The plan was surprisingly adequate for someone like Beauregard. Must have had a stray brain cell or two turn on. If anyone saw the ship leaving or returning, it'd just look like the blacksmith's apprentice going on a shopping trip or delivering a stock of materials. Nobody would know the princess was secretly on board because no one but Thalia had been there to see it. She was supposed to be grounded, after all. Thalia imagined Silena would be hunkered down in Annabeth's bedroom, prepared to send away anyone who came for her, excuses ready.

But this still didn't explain anything. Now, not only Silena knew what was going on, but a boy Annabeth had barely ever spoken to knew as well.

Thalia felt a little tinge of hurt creep into her heart as her sailing partner embarked for whatever unknown location without her.

**. . .**

"You can come out now, your majesty," Beckendorf hollered, "we're far away enough from the shore now."

Annabeth climbed the little stairs up to the deck, flinging her robes off and letting the gentle sea air ruffle the folds of her dress. She was dowsed in the final, soft light of day as the sun set on the horizon.

"I can't thank you enough for this," Annabeth expressed her gratitude. "I really can't!"

"Oh, no worries, your majesty. I'm more than happy to assist. Besides, no way I could tell my own girlfriend that I wasn't going to help her with her mysterious plan."

"Your girlfriend?! What?! You and Silena are going out already?"

"Yeah," Beckendorf beamed. "And it's about time, I'd say."

"Well, color me surprised," Annabeth blinked. "Congratulations. Hey, did she tell you why we're out here?"

"More or less. Gave me a speech about how you're in love."

"W-what?!" Annabeth grew nervous; did he know about merpeople now, too?

"Yep," he chuckled, "I never knew you had a passion for the ocean. That's pretty cool. I can see how it'd be hard, though, since your mom hates it."

Phew. Okay, he had no idea. However, this posed a new problem.

Looks like Silena only thought through plans so far. It'd be up to Annabeth to figure out how to get away for a little bit. No problem, though. She'd solve that problem when she came to it.

"To be honest, I also came out of curiosity. No one's ever sailed into the forbidden waters except for you. Silena said no one would find out, so I figure it'd be okay to come along and find out what big mystery lies out there."

Annabeth had never given too much consideration to those southern nautical restrictions before. Her mother placed them a very, very long time ago, and everyone simply listened without question. It took some really adventurous rule-breakers, otherwise known as she and Thalia, to find out what had lied beyond.

The wind had picked up drastically, becoming aggressive.

She nervously fingered the golden owl locket hanging from her neck. It was one of her prized possessions, the symbol of her mother and her prosperous kingdom. She wondered what that mother would think of her right about now if she knew she was disobeying and sailing off into forbidden waters to meet up with a merman.

The sweet purple and orange hues that reminded Annabeth of sherbet had turned sour. Dark storm clouds had begun to leak into the sky.

Guilt began to weigh heavy on her chest, along with the overwhelming anxiety she had about this evening. Last time had gone so well; the conversation was endless, and she had never felt so at ease and comfortable with anyone in her entire life. But what about now? Would things be different? Would he even show up? Would her mother still love her if she found out? Her thoughts stirred maddeningly, but her belief that she had to do this was rock solid. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Honestly, would anybody turn this down? Surely Athena couldn't blame her too much when she found out.

"Princess?" Beckendorf's voice wavered. "Are the waters out here always this rocky?"

The blacksmith snapped her out of her thought process. All around her, she realized that a horrible storm had begun to form. It had a sickeningly artificial feel to it. The weather was turning instantly without a single warning.

She looked up at the sky, sick with guilt and worry, and her eyes grew wide.

"No," she whispered, "This isn't right."

Beckendorf was in a frenzy, tying down ropes and adjusting sails in a desperate effort to save them from the fate awaiting them.

There would be no avoiding it.

The boat began rocking back and forth, the water shaking wildly back and forth so suddenly it was as though it was doing so at the snap of someone's fingers.

"Hold on!" he screamed, clinging to the nearest thing he could find as the water shook and sloshed them around with fierce intensity. Even as he clung fast to the mast, he could barely hold on. He was struggling just to stand.

Annabeth was not so lucky. She flailed her arms out, trying to see through the water gushing up like a geyser, splashing on the deck and rocking the boat even more.

Her fingers grasped for the side of the ship, holding on so tight her knuckles grew white.

_I don't know how, but he's trapped us. Mom was right, this is why we don't go out here_, she thought miserably. _I'm going to die for being so stupid. Beckendorf has to die because of my stupidity, too. I'm such a fool._

Stories of sirens, immensely attractive monsters that lured their victims to their deaths for the fun of it, flooded her head. She remembered being little, reading about them in her precious book and wondering how anyone could be so dumb to fall into their obvious traps. Now, she clung for dear life during the flash typhoon, starting to wonder if she had mistaken him for something beautiful when he was really a wretched beast. She was about to become one of the dumb victims described in the book.

Her tired hands couldn't hang on any longer. She was done for.

The last thing she heard was Beckendorf's screams as she was launched overboard, being sucked into the black waters.

She took her last breath before being completely submerged, her eyes slamming shut just before she left the dark surface world for an even darker world below.

Whether she knew it or not, it was probably best that she couldn't see; the creature waiting to devour her below was scarier than any storm the winds could conjure up. 

A swirling surge of adrenaline rushed through her blood before she blacked out.

**. . .**

"So? Do you or do you not know?"

Thalia was growing impatient with the Oracle.

"Hmm," the redhead sounded bored as she continued scribbling on a pad of paper, "Try again later."

"What?! You're not a freaking Magic 8 Ball! You're supposed to KNOW things!"

"How about 'the future looks hazy,'" she said in a mocking mystical voice. "Does that answer your question?"

Rachel Elizabeth Dare was the world-famous Oracle of Delphi, a sage possessing many mysterious secrets and abundant with knowledge. For her wisdom and insight, Queen Athena revered her as a prized gem and had made a place for her to stay within the kingdom.

"You're useless," Thalia sighed.

"I'm an Oracle," Rachel said with disinterest, "not a fortune teller. Don't be ignorant."

Thalia scoffed, but it didn't bother Rachel. The mastered artist was always too busy drawing away to get frustrated.

Rachel's eyes widened and she stared off into the middle distance.

"Wait, I'm seeing it!"

Thalia tensed. "Y-yeah? What are you seeing?"

"I'm seeing….that you're a huge busybody that needs to mind her own business!"

The Oracle couldn't stop laughing. It didn't take a fortune teller to see that Thalia looked like she was about to grab Rachel by the beads around her neck and teach her a lesson.

"Just let Annabeth do as she pleases for now," Rachel reassured. "She's a sharp girl and I'm sure she's fine. Maybe she just wants a little time away from you is all."

Thalia rubbed her temples.

"Rachel. Look," she sneered. "There are so many evil, horrible people out there, people who could have a lot of power in their hands if they acquired the royal daughter of Athena-"

"And there are people out there who are overzealous, overprotective, and go by the name of Thalia!"

"You'll pay for that remark later, Dare. But I've got more important things to worry about now."

Thalia stormed off, deciding not to waste another moment on the Oracle and resolved to get to the bottom of things.

Rachel was wholeheartedly amused by the whole scenario and chuckled to herself as she watched the girl stomp off.

She glanced back down at the drawing pad on her lap, picking up a blue colored pencil to finish it.

"Yep," she mused to herself smiling as she colored in and shaded the scales and fins, "You're right, Apollo. Destiny is brewing. Won't be long now!"

In one last final touch, she blew the stray pencil shavings off of her picture: a beautifully crafted image of a mermaid.

**. . .**

The pages crinkled under her touch as she flipped through the book.

Athena sat in her study, strained with her findings. She'd uncovered the carefully concealed tome during the search for Annabeth. She hadn't meant to find it, but it provided immediate answers to her questions.

"I should have figured it would only be a matter of time before this happened."

She couldn't help but smirk, her chilling eyes revealing the smallest gleam of humor. Her daughter was just like her. In trying to keep the secrets of the sea hidden, she'd only fed Annabeth's appetite for the truth. The flame inside her daughter which she thought had been extinguished many years ago had been burning strong and bright all the while.

She hated having to keep anything secret from Annabeth, but it was for her own safety. It was the only thing she could do, not just to protect her people, but her own offspring.

Athena wondered if Annabeth had come across any success in her search. That was unlikely. The forbidden waters worked both ways; it was the partition between the two worlds, and no one was allowed to tread those waters. Her efforts were surely in vain, as there would be nothing or anyone to find. Unless…unless she'd gone past the impasse area…

No. There was no way. Annabeth couldn't have had that much knowledge of the area. Her mother had obscured every reference on anything aquatic from her. No one in the entire kingdom even felt comfortable talking about the ocean beyond. Her search_ had_ to be fruitless.

Athena sighed and decided now was the time to come clean. She'd quench her daughter's thirst for answers, seeing as it would be the only way to keep her safe from harm.

She closed the book and headed for Annabeth's room.


	5. Do Merpeople Make Calls on Shellphones?

The cetus must have been twenty stories tall, and Percy was ready to chop up every last inch of it and set the new world record for 'largest sushi dinner.'

He'd heard the creature's wails long before he saw it, sending him swimming in its direction as fast as his tailfins could take him. Percy could communicate with anything and everything that dwelled in the water, and he'd spoken to quite a few monsters before, but something was _seriously_ wrong with this thing. Its thoughts were an ear-piercingly loud mess of garbled psychobabble. The demonic white noise gave the sea prince a splitting migraine.

Usually, per his father's rule, he had to communicate with whatever individual was causing trouble to see if he couldn't work things out diplomatic-like. It was a well-known and touted mantra among merpeople- and one that Percy wasn't quite so fond anymore: "unnecessary violence makes us no better those land-dwelling miscreants!" However, even if this thing _was_ able to muster up some explanation in regards to its outlandish behavior, Percy would have chopped it up anyway.

The second he saw the drowning Annabeth trapped within its tentacles, he was more than ready to rip the thing's brains out through its nose. To say he had never been angrier in his entire life would be a massive understatement.

His thoughts immediately catalyzed into action. First things first: get Annabeth to safety. Next: unleash every last liquidized ounce of oceanic wrath on the cetus.

He willed the waves to his control, sending them swirling in a maddening hurricane around the hideous beast's tentacles. Boy, that thing was ugly. It had the arms of an octopus, a dragon-like head, and the long, eely body of a serpent. Disgusting. The cetus let out a roar of defiance as the waters exerted frightening amounts of pressure against him, effectively disorienting it and sending him toppling. He released his surly grip on the motionless princess, sending her falling through the water.

Oh no._ Oh no, oh no, oh no. _

He swam to her with lightning-fast speed, catching her and breaking her descent. His mind raced with nervous panic. He didn't know any deep details about human versus merman anatomy, but he did know that she wasn't like him; he had both gills and air sacs, easily able to exist above and below the sea. Her? Not so much. How long could humans hold their breath for? Were her lungs already full of water? Could humans even submerge themselves like this? A frustrated flurry of curses ran though his mind.

On the sea floor hundreds of feet below them, the cetus began stirring again, wailing in pain and rage.

Where would he even put Annabeth? There was no air to breathe, nowhere for her to…wait a second.

He had to risk it.

He'd only tried this before once or twice, just for kicks and on a much smaller scale. This time, however, it wouldn't be out of boredom or a simple parlor trick for entertaining guests during dull parties. It'd be an act of saving the girl's life, and it would have to suffice. There was no other option.

With every ounce of concentration he could muster, he exerted the waters to part from each other on a great scale, forming a pocket of air that grew and grew until it had an impressive radius. Surprisingly, it wasn't difficult, only merely uncomfortable. As with all things new, he'd never practiced this before and the feel was certainly different from anything else he had ever done.

He'd created an air bubble fit for a princess, enveloping her within it while simultaneously extracting the saltwater that had weaseled its way down her throat and nostrils.

She rest inside the fragile creation as it gently floated in place, her eyes closed and lips tinted with shades of blue and purple. All the color in Percy's face had been sucked away, turning him white as the sandy shore of Neo-Ogygia. She absolutely, would not, without question, could not die. That was unthinkable. Impossible. He had to push the image of a cold and lifeless Annabeth out and away from his mind, casting it out of the realm of possibility.

With Annabeth out of harm's way for the time being, he turned to the cetus with enraged eyes. Percy wished he had brought that dumb trident his dad had given him, but it was so dang flashy and heavy to lug around everywhere, and thusly, he had left it back at the palace. However, he was no fool; he _had _brought a weapon. He removed the simple bronze ring from his right hand and the shimmering band transformed into a three foot length, double-edged, Celestial bronze sword. His trusty Anaklusmos, otherwise known as Riptide, had been his weapon of choice for as long as he could remember. Grant it, the sword may not have dealt the most damage possible (boy, did he wish he had that trident in his hands right now), and he might have outgrown it with his combat skills surpassing the little sword, but it was reliable, trusty, and comfortable.

"Hey, fishbreath!" Percy roared, hate seething in his voice. "Prepare to die!"

The cetus lurched for him in the dark waters, its serpent tail and tentacles spiraling and flailing wildly as he sped towards the prince. Percy was ready. He threw all his strength into the first impact, the hit striking the cetus across the side of its scaly neck. As it bellowed out in pain, Percy took the opportunity to land another strike across the monster's forehead, and another on its snout, and another to slice open a sizable gash on its face…

Percy fought mercilessly and ruthlessly against the beast, landing a chain of endless pummels on the monster. Even for being so powerful and large, the cetus didn't stand a chance against the infuriated son of the sea god. It lashed out at Percy, chomping its mouth full of sharp, deadly teeth at him to no avail. Percy was too fast for the creature's tentacles, dodging with chaotic speed and fine-pointed precision.

It roared as Percy struck it with one last fatal blow, the waters clouding with gushing red blood. A teensy tornado formed from the sea floor's grime and debris that had swirled up from the fight. He panted heavily, catching his breath.

It was his father's orders: no creature was allowed to enter this waterway, and they definitely weren't allowed to attack any humans they might happen to come across. Heck, they were supposed to avoid human contact at all costs! So what was the cetus doing out here? Something was obviously wrong with it from the psychobabble it had been spewing. Percy had never seen a cetus up close and personal before, except for once when he was a young boy. He had watched his father fight one effortlessly. How did his dad do it?! Percy was pretty winded from this battle, even as easy as the win had been.

He figured all he'd explore his questions later. He had much more important things to tend to now.

Timidly, he swam back up to the princess, who was still unresponsive inside her bubble. His fins twitched nervously as he gazed upon her slumbering form, deciding that he had to take her back to the palace. Her body was bruised, and a few scars decorated areas of her skin. No matter what the consequence would be, he had to help her.

Taking Annabeth in his arms while still keeping her safe in her bubble was tricky. It took a lot of creative plundering, but after a few careful adjustments, he had managed to command the air bubble into taking a different shape. The air bent around Annabeth, taking on her form and clinging to her in a thin layer of circulation.

Although Percy was strong, he didn't have to strain one bit in carrying Annabeth; the water did almost all the work for him in holding her up. He carried her amiably in his arms bridal-style, pressing her head up against his chest to keep the pressure of the water racing by off of her. He took into careful consideration that the way water affected her was probably a lot different than it affected him. Even though he could zip through the ocean at any speed and depth with nary a care in the world, there seemed to be an endless list of things he had to worry about for her.

As she slept in his arms, she was being carried far, far away- not only from her kingdom, but the only world she'd ever known.

**. . .**

Hazy sounds churned around in her head, sloshing around like warm honey trapped in a bottle.

_Yes, for the last time, you have it straight: I've got a possibly dying, human girl right here in my bed and yes, I do expect you not to freak out. Now 's not the time for that._

Oh, that voice was familiar to her. She recognized it as a voice she'd want to listen to all day; it was inviting and sweet, riddled with concern. Percy.

_That's not the part you should be worried about, geez. You have to help me fix her!_

Strange. He seemed to be talking to himself, but giving concise responses to someone who wasn't there. Did they have phones underwater? More importantly, if they did, were they called shell-phones?

_No! We can't tell my dad. Besides, even if we don't know what's wrong with her, we can fix her. I have an idea._

Her thoughts were a jumbled mess, and she had a hard time trying to make any sense of what he was saying and who he could possibly be saying it to if there was no one else there. She wished she could find the will to open her eyes.

_Just stay here and guard her with your life, okay? I'll be back as fast as I can._

She didn't want his voice to leave, but she couldn't form the words to call out. She couldn't feel much of anything at all. She felt entirely disconnected from her body, like her soul had unstitched its bond to her being and floated up and away, taking all her control with it.

_It'll be okay, I promise! _

The voice and the noise fizzled out and dissipated within the pools of her mind, and she found herself slipping back into a comatose sort of sleep once again.

**. . .**

The next time her consciousness wavered, she gained a little more awareness along with it.

Her eyes fluttered open, the world spinning and blurring around her. Everything felt so heavy, like the air was pushing down on her bones.

The sights around her didn't make any since at all. For starters, she was nestled in an enormous white clam shell bed, with woven seaweed blankets and pillows. There were clusters and clumps of surprisingly soft sea anemones for a mattress. The room was big and open, the walls made of rock, as if she were in an undersea grotto. Way up in the wall was what looked to be like a giant window- no, that wasn't it. Was it a hole? A sparkly, silky gold curtain was draped over it, giving the room privacy.

Aside from that hole in the top of the wall, the huge room was void of a door, but it wasn't devoid of style. This was the most impressive aquatic theme Annabeth had ever seen! Lavish hues of dark blue contrasting against glistening gold gave the room an unmistakably royal feel. Golden, ornate furniture occupied one corner of the room, including a gargantuan vanity of sorts. A beautiful trident that was hung horizontally on display caught her attention.

The weirdest part about the dream, though, was that right in front of her was the largest koi fish she'd ever seen. He was floating around in a panicked frenzy, which Annabeth found pretty cute. She tried to rub her sleepy eyes, but the motion felt so, so different. It felt like the laws of physics had spontaneously collapsed and air decided to start packing on the pounds. What a strange fever dream she was having! Doorless rooms, the funky state of air, floating koi fish the size of teenage boys, cozy clam shell beds…she smiled to herself. It was practically like she was trapped in her favorite book, the _Maritime Fables. _Ha! If she didn't know better, she'd figure that hole in the top of the wall _was_ the door, and that the fish was actually in water thus explaining the air situation, and that she was actually inside a merperson's room. Ha ha! So silly….

Wait.

Everything came flooding back to her at once, and it was almost too much to process. She tried to find the will to leave the bed, but it was quite the hassle as her whole body was aching. Remembering the sudden storm, the way some monster of sorts had pulled her down into the depths, the terrifying feeling of losing consciousness….she hadn't totally regained that lost consciousness yet, either. She tried to put two and two together, desperately trying to make sense of what had happened and how she'd ended up here and how the heck she was still alive and breathing.

As she forced herself to climb out of the bed, the koi fish cranked his freak-out mode up to eleven, and she was worried the poor thing was going to have a little fishy heart attack.

"It's okay," she comforted, never before having felt so concerned for a fish. "Everything is alright, I-I think. I'm not going to hurt you or anything, and I feel pretty woozy anyways, so…"

She had no idea that he could not only understand her, but wasn't worried about his own safety at all. He was worried about hers.

If it is possible to stumble while swimming, Annabeth Chase made it happen. She clumsily tried to get the hang of the unfamiliar situation of swim-walking as she snooped around the room. Her blond hair was lush and untamed as she moved about. It gravitated itself around her, creating a sunny halo of hair that kept getting in her face and irritating her to wit's end.

One wall was of particular interest to Annabeth; there hung a towering portrait of strikingly handsome young merman, with jet black hair and eyes every shade of green and gorgeous iridescent fins. She could have sworn on her life that it was the Percy Jackson boy- however, seeing him in this portrait, you might just mistake him for being absolutely…regal. A golden, five-pointed prince's crown rested on his head as he was garbed in a velvet cape the color of lapis lazuli.

That exact crown rested on the table of the golden vanity. It was adorn with shining pearls and radiant emeralds and lustrous rubies.

Her tired mind slowly began to catch up with reality; Percy Jackson was royalty, and she was in his room.

The koi fish was right behind her now, swimming in animated circles as though he was trying to tell her something.

"He…he didn't tell me he was a prince!"

Annabeth felt a tinge of anger surge through her, before realizing she had no right to feel that way. After all, she hadn't told him_ she_ was a princess. Why wouldn't he tell her? _Maybe_, she thought, _for the exact same reasons I didn't tell him._ A little smile grew on her lips.

But where was he? How long had she been stuck here? Her eyes glared up at the exit.

"If I could just get up there…."

Still feeling light-headed and pretty out of it, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Annabeth was not in any shape to be exploring underwater palaces, but she wasn't about to let that stop her. With a determined heart, she decided to try to get up to the door at the top of the wall so she could take a quick peek around and assess her surroundings.

Her efforts were noble, but nobility can't stop you from falling on your butt. As soon as she started treading the water, blood rushed to her head and she grew dizzy. Her legs were sore and felt as heavy as stone, and her arms weren't cooperating with this whole swimming thing. The more she exerted her remaining energy, the worse she felt.

As she closed her tired eyes once more and sunk back down to the floor, the koi fish swirling around her in pure trepidation and alarm. Her eyes watched his movements, beclouding his glossy scales into white and orange blurs before she slipped into sleep once again.

**. . .**

His heart almost stopped with relief when her stormy eyes flittered open.

He ran his fingers through his dark locks of hair and sighed with great solace, exhausted with relief.

She had returned to the bed. He must have come back to the room to find her passed out on the floor, picking her up and placing her back in it.

She opened her mouth to say something, but was silenced immediately.

"Quick, don't say anything- not before you eat some of this."

He handed her something that looked like a little white petit four square. It looked delicious, and her mouth watered with temptation. Despite her empty stomach, she refused the tiny pastry.

"Oh no," she teased, "I'm smarter than that. You won't catch me taking food from strangers- especially not _merprince_ strangers."

"Ouch," he said sarcastically, smirking. "That hurts. I thought you trusted me more than that, princess. We're not strangers, we're friends."

"Wait…'princess?' How did you know I was a princess?" Her brows furrowed in frustration and confusion.

"Okay, how about this? You eat that and I'll tell you."

"Nope."

"I'm not saying anything until you do," he said, crossing his arms.

"Hmph," she pouted with easy defeat, in all honesty eager to eat the cake." Fine. Deal."

Whatever sort of oxygen magic that had been concocted for her proved even more useful- when Annabeth brought the treat to her mouth, it passed through the air force field and left all water behind, preventing her mouth and lungs from filling up with water and killing her. The snack was fabulously delicious, not tasting at all what she'd expected it to taste like. Instead of the obvious cake taste, her mouth filled with the taste of her favorite snack: hot, buttery, salty popcorn. Her eyes flickered with understanding; she realized immediately from that moment on what he'd given her. It'd come in a form that was a little different back on land, and they'd called it ambrosia. It was very, very rare and powerful- a food with miraculous healing powers, and it tasted like whatever your own personal comfort food was. But you had to be really careful; eat too much of it and the opposite effects occurred: pain, suffering, and even death.

Instantly, her foggy head cleared and the pain all throughout her body subsided. She sat up in bed, straightening her back.

"Do you feel better now? That stuff has cool healing powers, it's called-"

"Ambrosia," Annabeth interrupted, smiling. "I know."

"Whoa," Percy said. "How did you…"

"We have it where I'm from, too," she laughed. "But that aside….mind explaining what exactly happened?"

Percy tensed.

"I…I'm not so sure. I was coming to see you, but then I heard the cetus- that's a sea monster, it's-"

"I know what a cetus is," Annabeth smirked, bluffing to mess with him. The only book in her whole kingdom to address the underwater world hadn't mentioned that type of monster at all.

"You're a total wise girl, he said sarcastically, smiling from ear to ear.

"Pfft," she swung one of the woven kelp pillows at him, smacking him with it playfully. "You're a seaweed brain."

"Hey!"

"But, about that monster…mind giving me a little refresher on what is, exactly?" She grinned sheepishly.

He threw her a questioning look, but didn't tease her any further.

"Yeah…it's huge, ugly, and- thanks to me- dead on the ocean floor."

"Thanks for that description. It was really helpful in educating me on cetuses."

"Of course," he said sarcastically.

"But when it had captured you…" his tone became grave, color draining from his face. "Well…it wasn't supposed to come after you like that. It's forbidden."

"Bah," Annabeth scoffed. "That word 'forbidden.' I hate that word." She stared down at the covers with knit brows, thinking back to her mother. 'Forbidden' was her mother's favorite word these days. After what had happened today, she might have been starting to see why.

"I do, too," he agreed. "You know? I've been finding out lately that forbidden things are sometimes the best things." He flashed an awkward smile at Annabeth, and she returned it with one of her own.

"I'd have to agree with you on that, in one certain case."

The moment grew silent, the two averting their gazes away from each other. Annabeth stared down at her hands, trying to form the words to say next and being struck by the fact that this was all really happening.

"Thanks," she said quietly, her voice cracking. "For saving me and all."

"No probl-"

She threw her arms around Percy, trapping him in a colossal hug. Annabeth wasn't able to see it, but his face flushed bright red.

"I, uh, um!" he stammered, much to her amusement.

Suddenly, Annabeth looked up to see the same koi fish from earlier swim through the door, causing quite the clamor.

"What! Frank, no! Don't do that! It's not what it- ugh!"

Annabeth figured he was arguing with the fish, whom she unfortunately couldn't hear. _Must be a sea-people thing, _she thought.She released the merprince from her grasp as he argued with the fish, whose name was apparently Frank.

"Fine, fine! I've got it under control, "Percy assured with his hands up in a 'don't tattle' gesture. He turned to Annabeth.

"Do you mind if we take this _somewhere else_?" He glanced over to Frank and gave him an angry glare.

"Of course, "Annabeth agreed.

He huffed, obviously frustrated at whatever Frank the Talking Goldfish had said to him. In a gesture Annabeth didn't understand, Percy extended his arms out in an awkward fashion.

"…alright!"

"…alright what?"  
"Come on, let's go."

"Pray tell, what exactly are you doing with your arms there, seaweed brain?"

"You know," he mumbled, blushing. "Carrying you."

"Carry me?! What for?! I can swim just fine, thank you very much!"

"Well…."

"Well?"

In one fell swoop, he swiftly gathered her into arms. It was with great ease, as the water was doing most of the work, after all.

He flashed her one of his signature sharkish smiles.

"You just can't swim as good as me!"

"HEY!"

He laughed heartily as he took off with her, whooshing up and out the door with torpedo-like speed.


	6. General Annabeth Admits Surrender

They sped through the water with such rapid acceleration that everything around them morphed into watery blue blurs. Annabeth had to restrain herself from yelping. When Percy said he could swim fast, he really meant it. They were going _fast, _so much that it gave the word a whole new meaning. To say he was a skilled swimmer was an understatement.

From the glimpses she was able to catch as they sped by, Annabeth was absolutely certain that this was a dream come true. She wished she could explore the castle and the things within it for eternity, but she knew that wouldn't be possible. Their worlds were separate, and it was becoming increasingly clear that the merpeople would be less than thrilled to find out a human girl was in their midst; she thought back to her mother, and realized that the feelings of hatred Athena fostered towards these people was probably mutual. Still, if the castle interior was this incredible, Annabeth couldn't imagine how amazing the world outside must be….

Percy was careful to avoid getting caught, which seemed an impossible task to Annabeth; with as quick as they were going, it felt like they weren't visible to the naked eye! Luckily, no one seemed to be around, the vast hallways and corridors void of life. Annabeth wondered where everyone could have been.

Suddenly, the princess screamed as they were raced toward a wall at a million miles an hour.

He ceased the swimming frenzy, just a few inches from the wall as he burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha! You should have seen your face just then! You really thought I was going to-"

"Enough," she huffed, "I'm putting an end to this crazy ride." She broke out of his grasp, face flushed with embarrassment from her fear-induced wailing.

"Hey, come back! It's okay, you didn't know I could stop on a dime. I probably would have been screaming if we were on land and I was in your arms and you were running on your human legs at incredible, record-breaking, breath-taking speeds-"

"Okay, now you're just bragging about yourself."

He smirked playfully.

"Can't I be allowed to look cool just this once?"

"No," she said. "Boys who act like they're going to burst through walls to scare their visitors don't get to look cool."

"I wasn't _trying_ to scare you," he confessed. "I was trying to show you this."

He placed his hand on a golden sconce hanging on the wall and pulled it downward. A cracking sound rang out, and Annabeth's eyes searched the wall frantically for any changes, wondering what had happened.

"Behind you," Percy directed.

She turned to see a portrait of whom she presumed to be Percy's dad, the royal sea king. It slowly creaked open, revealing a hidden passageway that was dark and eerie.

"Awesome, right?"

She stared at the tunnel, brows furrowed, remaining quiet for a moment.

"You know what I'm wondering?"

"Well, that could probably be a billion things."

"To be honest, I'm wondering why merpeople need candlestick holders in the first place." She threw him an inquisitive look, gesturing to the golden sconce that had opened the doorway.

"A…'candle?' What is that?" He gawked at her, confused.

It then occurred to her that, being a merman, he most likely didn't even know what fire _was, _much less a candle.

"Sorry," she explained, "Back on land, we have this thing called a candle, and it's like…well, it's shaped like a stick."

"Annabeth, I know what a stick is." He stared at her blankly.

"Well, it's made out of wax," she tried to explain, baffled at how difficult this was. "And you light the top of it on fire."

"Fire?"

"Yeah, it's an exothermic chemical reaction that results in heat and light due to- you know what? Never mind all that. The point is that you have a candlestick holder when candles and fire have no place existing underwater."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but this thing," he gestured to the sconce, "doesn't hold 'candles.' It holds flash nacre."

"Flash nacre?"

Examining the sconce, she realized that while it wasn't holding candles, it was indeed holding something. It looked like a pearl the size of a small baseball.

"Watch," he said as he brought his hand up to the foreign object and ignited it with a simple touch.

It threw off beams of sparkling light, the orb glowing brightly and enchanting Annabeth's eyes with its spectacular luminescent show.

"That's incredible," she cooed in awe, mouth agape.

He stared at her, amused. She was totally enthralled with the mer-equivalent of a candle, a mundane and boring object to him. It was definitely amusing.

He took her hand in his, pulling her fingers to the flash nacre. It was smooth and cold to the touch. The light dissipated and died out as soon as her fingers ran across the surface.

"I…how…what…ugh! This is too amazing for words!"

"Well, if you think _that's _cool, you won't believe what's next," he grinned.

Her hand still in his, he pulled her towards the creepy passageway. As soon as they entered, Percy closed the door back, the sound of it closing echoing throughout. They were now engulfed in darkness.

Her stomach turned flip-flops, but she gulped and prepared herself whatever lied ahead. Subconsciously, her grip on him tightened.

"Sure you don't want me to carry you again?" he grinned.

"And almost have a heart attack again? Heck no, Seaweed Brain!"

She swam forward, pulling him along as they trudged into the darkness.

** . . . **

As they headed downwards, Annabeth couldn't see a single thing.

In truth, she wished she could have just jumped back into Percy's arms and shoot down this place so fast that it would have been like a water slide.

As she stumbled around aimlessly, she couldn't help but notice that the darkness didn't seem to be affecting him as much as it had been her.

"I can't see a single thing in here," she fumed.

"Really? I can."

"What? Seriously?"

"Well, it's more like I can _feel_ where things are at, I guess."

She thought about that for a moment before deciding on feeling totally envious. Water powers, baffling speed, _and_ night feel-vision? Darn it! Why didn't she get any cool powers?

They were moving pretty slowly, much to Percy's chagrin. Even in the darkness, she could tell that he was itching to bolt down the tunnel and wasn't used to moving at a speed that wasn't sixteen million miles per hour.

"Where are we going, exactly?"

"Says the girl leading us," Percy teased.

Even though he was only kidding, she felt embarrassed. She hadn't stopped to think about how ridiculous her notion of taking the lead was; what was she thinking? She wished she could swallow her pride and let someone else- even if it was this Seaweed Brain of a boy- take the reins for a while. She'd never been very good at letting others lead.

Well, this would be a good start.

"Okay," she sighed, holding back her stubborn impulse and giving in. "Go ahead."

"Finally!"

She groaned as he swept her up once again, fins itching to go.

She held on for dear life as they swam off at the speed of sound once more, heading off to new places.

**. . .**

The tunnel apparently had a large number of exits, most of which Percy hadn't gotten around to exploring. _Too much to see, never enough time to see it_, he had explained. She could definitely relate to that.

One exit he did happen to know, however, served as his favorite. It was a discreet exit, the easiest escape from the palace. She imagined he'd used it quite often in breaking out, and she wished she had a cool secret tunnel back at her own place.

He opened a wooden door, one that looked like it belonged on the side of a cellar; they spilled out onto the sea floor, arriving at the very back of the castle. She couldn't help but to turn around, gazing at the building in its entirety. She had to catch her magic underwater breath. It was _stunning, _and she had to crane her neck up as far as it could go just to see how tall the palace was. Length wise, it must have been miles long. It gleamed as the sun casts rays on its golden exterior, shining so brightly it hurt her eyes. This place could give her mom's manor a run for its money. Athena's castle was ornate with excruciating attention detail, giving off a feeling of sumptuous majesty; every last inch of it was drenched in perfect design, the mecca of creativity. In contrast, Poseidon's palace was hardly elegant or detailed with its plain golden theme, but it was undeniably dignified. It made you feel small and insignificant next to it, like it was saying _"don't mess with me."_

She wanted to screech in protest as Percy carried them away from the building, longing to study it for extensive periods of time, but she knew that staying wasn't an option.

Now that she was outside, Annabeth could hear loud pulses of music and merriment and laughter from very, very far off, like a celebration was going on somewhere out there. She couldn't see anything with her view completely concealed by the palace's backside, but she imagined that something big was happening in the front. As they covered more distance, the sounds quickly grew more and more muffled until they faded away.

"Percy," she inquired, "what was all that noise? Where's it coming from?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just sort of a party."

"What kind of a party? It sounds massive. Must be important."

"Yeah, I guess."

"That explains why there was no one in the castle, right? They're all at the gathering."

"Sure."

She could tell he was cautiously avoiding her questions. He didn't seem too keen on informing her about whatever the affair was.

They continued swimming further and further away from the palace and all mer-civilization. They passed lonely tufts of seaweed swaying in the waves and huge rock chunks, not much else to be seen. Annabeth suspected that the palace sat on the tip of the outskirts of whatever civilization lay in front of it, acting like the centerpiece of a shining city. She sighed with a heavy heart, knowing she'd never get to see if her hypothesis was correct.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, _nothing_," she smirked, repeating the same thing he'd told her earlier.

"Hey! That's no fair."

"Life isn't fair," she chimed.

"Ugh. You're impossible, Wise Girl." He rolled his eyes. "Well, anyways, we're here."

They rose upward.

Annabeth broke the water's surface with a pop, the air that previously surrounded her dissipating into a million little bubbles and floating away into the sea.

For what felt like the millionth time today, she was awestruck. In retrospect, it was getting pretty tiring being so fascinated all the time. Luckily, a life of boredom had prepared her well.

She wriggled free of his grasp and swam onto the shore, mouth agape.

"This…this is…ugh, I'm running out of adjectives."

The dark of night was penetrated by the stark white shore. She sunk her hands into the silky sand.

"It's literally sparkling," she gasped. "What…I…where am I?"

"Neo-Ogygia," Percy began. "You're the first human to ever come here. They say this place used to be enchanted, and there was this nymph chick named Calypso and she-"

Annabeth was rolling in the sand, smiling from ear to ear as clumps of it clung to her hair and peppered her skin. She giggled giddily, taking immense joy- she was on a real live beach, playing in the sand, and her mother couldn't stop her.

The merman may or may not have been blushing at a sight so cute.

"Come on! Let's build a sandcastle," she exclaimed, grabbing his arm and pulling him up unto the shore.

"Yours is gonna be way better than mine, probably."

"No doubt."

And it was justly so- Annabeth's sandcastle was a marvelous structure, complete with little seashell embellishments, which she dubbed "House of Chase." Percy's sandcastle looked like a lumpy brick, which Annabeth couldn't help but laugh at, which lead to Percy picking it up and tossing it at her in clumps, which waged the greatest Neo-Ogygia Sand War the island would ever see.

She flopped down on the shore in defeat, crying from laughing so hard.

"Okay, you win."

He slunk down next to her.

"You admit defeat?"

She gave him a playful shove, eyes crinkling with mischievous light.

"Fine. General Annabeth admits surrender. Happy?"

"The happiest I've ever been," he reassured, smiling with genuine bliss. "This has been the best birthday I've ever had."

"…what?" She sat straight up. "It's your birthday today?"

"Yeah."

She pieced the mystery together.

"That party from earlier, all that commotion…it was YOUR party, wasn't it?"

He only grinned, biting his lip. She ran her hand through her hair, snorting with frustration.

"You didn't even go to your own birthday party?"

"Hey, I had something _way_ better planned," he laughed. "Besides, I don't think anyone missed me. Heck, I bet no one even noticed I wasn't there. Well, my dad probably noticed, but other than that…" He sighed.

Annabeth's voice grew quiet. "How are you going to explain to him that you ditched your own birthday party to rescue, hang out with, and then escort a human girl to an exotic paradise?"

"Hmm…could you say that again? I think I'll just repeat whatever you just said," he smiled. She threw some sand at him.

She circled the sand wistfully, gazing down with sad eyes.

"My mom is going to kill me when I get home," she said.

"Well, why don't you just….not go home? Stay here with me." The words flew out of his mouth before he could stop it. He silently cursed himself, embarrassed at letting it escape at the risk of making him look like a huge creep.

She was silent for a moment, giving away no signs of emotion or reaction as her gaze pierced through him.

"That would never work," she said coldly. "It couldn't."

"Y-yeah," he blushed, glaring out at the ocean, feeling rejected and like an idiot. "I don't really know what I was thinking-"

She tackled him in a hug that was just a little too strong- this girl had a crazy tight grip- but he didn't complain.

"But I wish it would."

Just as quickly as she had thrown herself around him, she pushed him away, her face flushed as well. They stared at each other in silence for what felt like a millennia, neither one of them knowing what to say, until Annabeth broke the silence.

"I know this is kind of stupid," she said as she fiddled with the latch of her beloved necklace, "but here- a little birthday gift from the human world, so you won't forget about me." She placed the owl locket in his palm, closing it in his grasp. "It's my favorite, so please don't go feeding it to a shark or anything stupid."

He tried to find the words to tell her that he didn't need a necklace to remember her, and wouldn't be able to forget her even if he wanted to, but he only managed to stare at the new prized treasure in his hand.

"It's an owl," she announced.  
"What the heck is an owl?"

"What, you don't have those on this island? They're only the coolest breed of bird there is," she beamed. "Also, in human etiquette, when people give you something, you have to say 'thanks,'" she chided jokingly.

"I was getting there. 'Thank you'," he said, wishing he could convey just how thankful he really was for this whole day.

She nodded, turning to look up at the sky. The horrible thought that she'd have to leave soon started weaseling its way into her mind.

"Look," she pointed out, "Ophiuchus."

"What? What's an offy-mucus?"

"Not 'offy-mucus,' silly: Ophiuchus. You know…constellations? Astronomy?"

He stared at her blankly, confused.

"Well, looks like I'll have to teach you, then," she decided.

They lay together on the shore that night, Annabeth explaining the stars while Percy hung on every word, each of them trying hard to ignore the inevitable realization that this would be the last time they would ever be together.


	7. Corn Flakes and Careful Choices

"I have _never_ been angrier at you in your entire life."

Standing in the throne room, seething words from Mommy Dearest were the first things waiting for Annabeth back on land. Percy had dropped her off at the shore and then bolted off immediately at Annabeth's urging, leaving her to trudge back to her castle home and face the wrath of her mother.

It was a giant relief to Annabeth when she learned that Beckendorf had been able to swim back to shore safely after the ship had been destroyed. He had to bravely confront Athena after, giving her the news of Annabeth's supposed drowning with the heaviest and guiltiest of hearts. With great detail, he relayed the details it all; Annabeth sneaking away, the storm that came out of nowhere, the dark waters that seemed to pull her down. The dignified queen almost collapsed in the floor with anguish. Tears spilled from her eyes, her heart rife with soul-crushing pain. She was much too hurt to be angry- that is, until Annabeth stumbled in many hours later. Then, she was downright furious.

"Do whatever you want to me," Annabeth pleaded desperately, "Just doesn't do anything to Silena and Charles. Please."

"It's too late for them. They will be punished- but not nearly as severely as you. To think, my own daughter, conversing with the multitude of sea-dwelling scum!… "

'Multitude?' Percy was the only mer-person she'd met. Silena must have been silent about that part, leading Athena to believe something different, something not having to do with ocean princes. Dear, sweet Silena. Annabeth silently thanked the handmaid with all her heart.

"They're not scum. They're actually quite nice," Annabeth's defense fell weak with a quiet, trembling voice.

"Do you not understand?!" Her mother was explosively indignant, gray eyes ablaze with fury. "The merpeople- those_ monsters_- attempted to kill you today with their storm!-"

"It wasn't a storm, mother, it was a Cetus-"

"So they sent a beast after you? Predictable! Annabeth, how could you be so _foolish_?! You're immensely lucky to still be _breathing!"_

Up until this point, the shouting, foot stomping, and the condensing tone were absolutely tolerable. No, these things were not scary; with enough acting up as a child, Annabeth had become rather accustom to them. It was when Athena was silent, cold, and calculating that she was most terrifying of all. Now _that _was enough to send Annabeth quaking in her boots (had she been wearing them).

She threw Annabeth an inquisitive look. "How, pray tell, are you still breathing?"

Annabeth gulped, feeling horrible for making her mother so worried. She deserved to hear the truth, she decided.

"One of the merpeople saved me."

Athena threw her daughter an outraged, incredulous look, ready to fire off whatever harsh words she had for Annabeth, but she held her tongue and sighed instead, her face freezing into a stony expression.

"You're in heaps of trouble," she said indifferently. "For a very long time."

At that moment, the door swung open to reveal a towering, husky girl with spite-filled brown eyes that seemed to ask _"you cruisin' for a bruisin', punk?" _ Her arms and legs were plastered with bruises and scars to match her already jarring personality, and she wore the uniform of the Royal Guard- recently ripped and tattered from a fresh fight.

"Clarisse La Rue," Athena addressed. "State your business."

Clarisse took a dip for the floor immediately, bowing in respect. "Your majesty," she said, "Will Solace cannot be present for tomorrow's patrol, so the duty was delegated with me."

"Patrol?" Annabeth threw her mother a questioning look.

"To prevent any incidents like this from reoccurring- not just for you, Annabeth. This entire kingdom needs to be separated from the ocean and its demonic beings. Besides, we have visitors tomorrow evening, and I need to make sure you don't escape again. I cannot keep my eyes on you every second, foolish daughter."

"Ugh, I don't know why you hate the merpeople so much! What did they ever do to you?!"

"Any being that serves that wretched ruler of theirs deserves every last ounce of my hatred! You wouldn't understand!"

"Maybe I would if you'd just tell me!"

"With the way you've acted? You don't deserve to know!"

"Do you think you can just eradicate the entire ocean?!" Annabeth had to hold back tears as she snapped at her mother.

"Well, darling, I surely can try." Athena's voice was low and rife with despise.

The pair forgot completely about the solider in their midst, watching with wide, terrified eyes.

"Uh…maybe I should go?"

The mother-daughter duo restrained themselves for a moment to turn to see a very awkward Clarisse, dying to high tail it out of there.

"Yes," Athena decided, "I must go as well. As for you, Annabeth: to your room."

She didn't turn back to see her devastated daughter crying as she promptly paraded herself out of the room.

**. . .**

Even the windows had been bolted shut. Annabeth was a canary, trapped in a cage with clipped wings and a heart too broken to sing.

It was Silena's last day as handmaid, being "demoted" to her old position as stable master once again. As she brushed the princess' hair one last time, she was silent.

"…Silena?"

"…Yes?"

"I'm sorry. Thank you."

She wrapped her arms around her enemy-turned-handmaid-turned-friend, giving her a sincere hug.

"Oh, Annabeth…" She sighed wistfully. "What will you do now?"

"I have to do something…I've decided. I just can't stay away, Silena."

At this revelation, Silena's mouth fell agape. She gawked at Annabeth.

"…what? What are you staring at me like that for?"

"Did you….did Annabeth Chase just decide to ignore her mother's wishes, throw logic out the window, and pursue her own ambitions?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Yes. I suppose I just did. And I kind of hate myself for it too, actually."

Silena hung Annabeth's dress up on an ivory hanger, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Never thought I'd see the day when THAT would happen…"

She was almost completely ready to retire for the night when Silena made a careful observation.

"Hey…your locket, where is it? I didn't see you take it off."

Annabeth only sighed.

"What?! Don't tell me you lost it! That's your favorite thing in the world, there's no way you'd-"

"No, I didn't lose it. I gave it to someone."

"You gave it to Dreamy Gills," Silena realized, her voice reciting the words as if she were reading a fact out of one of Annabeth's textbooks.

The room was silent for moments, Annabeth gazing down at her twiddling thumbs.

Like a dam exploding, Silena turned on the waterworks. The amalgamation of carefully applied eye makeups smeared down her cheeks, her nose honking loudly with every boo-hoo.

"I-its…s-so….t-tragic!" she bawled. Annabeth's expression was melancholic and unwavering as she patted the drama queen's back.

"I gave it to him as a weird birthday present," she explained. "He skipped his birthday to be with me."

Silena only wept harder.

"That was actually right after he saved me from certain death via a horrifying monster."

Silena flopped on the floor, bawling.

"Shh, there, there."

"T-too…r-romantic…so sad! So, so sad! I hate everything! Goodbye, world!"

"Hush. I'm going to figure out how to fix this whole situation."

"But how?" Silena sniffled and composed herself enough to reply. "Not even I can help you get out of this one! Your mom has you on a tight leash now…Maybe in a couple months, after she loosens up, you can go see him again…"

"A couple months? No. No way. How would I even find him in a couple of months? But besides, even if I can get back AND find him, his dad will probably be really mad at him for missing his birthday- for a human girl, no less. This is just downright awful."

-"And?"

-"And…and it's idiotic."

-"Aaand?"

-"And it's perfectly senseless and foolish and ill-advised!"

Silena wiped her leaky blue eyes, still spilling over with theatrical tears. A little smirk played at the edges of her lips.

"But you still want to anyway!"

"Well, yeah. I just don't see why we have to separate ourselves from such an amazing world, right beneath our own. Something deep down within me just tells me it's not right." She twirled a lock of her hair around her finger, deep in thought. "You know, I've been dreaming my whole life about the ocean and its inhabitants and an entire civilization of people I were told was fictional, and now, they're all right in front of me and I just…I can't let this pass me by any longer."

"Oh, come on! Aside from all that…you want to see Dreamy Gills!"

"He has a name, you know," she blushed, narrowing her eyebrows and puffing out her cheeks in frustration.

"HA! So the princess doesn't deny it!"

"I never exactly validated it, though."

"You SO want to see him again!" She playfully poked her friend's side.

"Fine, FINE! I do. You're awful."

Silena giggled gingerly, satisfied. "Sorry, Annabeth… It's just too funny to see you like this. I mean, you're the last person I'd expect to fall into the clutches of love- don't argue about your 'non-existent' feelings with me again, young lady- so it's just sweet to know the tides have finally turned."

Annabeth gave a sad little grin in response, still feeling entirely hopeless.

"Cheer up! Where there's love, there's a way. If it's meant to be, I'm positive it'll work out. Trust me," she winked and elbowed Annabeth, "when it comes to this romance stuff, I'm kind of an expert, y'know."

"Who said there was romance involved?!"

"Don't you DARE start this crap with me Annabeth Chase because so help me we will fight it out until I have you begging for me to shut up!"

Annabeth huffed, defeated by her friend's pre-emptive war declaration. "Fine. You win this round. But regardless of fate, I'm not without a plan. I've got an idea."

"Naturally. So, what's the big idea?"

"I think I know someone who could help."

"How are you going to get to them?! You can't even get out of your own _room_!"

"Oh, I'm not going to get to them. They're going to come to me. Brace yourself, Silena Beauregard. I'm about to do something very, very stupid."

**. . .**

By the time the gathering rolled around the next evening, Annabeth Chase was ready.

She knew there'd be many an important person in attendance, with neighboring kingdom officials and far-away royals alike arriving. But there was only one person Annabeth needed to see, and that someone might not come at all. She rarely did. Annabeth had to be prepared, though; in the event that her much-anticipated guest did show up, she would need to be as convincing as possible. This was her last glimmering ray of hope.

In the comfort of her bedroom, she glared at her reflection in the large mirror that stretched from ceiling to floor. With Silena Beauregard newly freed of her duties, Annabeth was left to her own devices in getting ready, and boy, did she look crummy. Her hair was in wild waves, her dress was a hot, wrinkled mess, and if you know what's good for you, you should never ask about how applying eyeliner on her own for the first time ever went. _It's not in appearance, it's all in the confidence. _She tried to convince herself with a series of mini-pep talks, though it wasn't doing much good. She took a deep breath and a gulp and turned to her door.

Before she could open it, a knock surprised her. She opened the door to a girl with wild hair as red as Silena's face after reading her silly romance novels. Her casual white shirt and brown pants was in stark contrast to the ornate, expensive-looking blue jewelry adorning her ears and neck. Exotic green silk wrapped around her shoulders and was tied together in a knot resting on her chest, topping off the weird outfit. The girl smelled of warm incense, damp cave musk, and cheap acrylic paint.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," she announced the Oracle's arrival.

"Annabeth Chase," she said. "I have news."

That was certainly cause for alarm. When Rachel had insight on something- and it wasn't often- you'd better stop and listen, because things were about to go down. Rachel was pretty cool, but she was also pretty out there; it was like she was living on an entirely different plain of existence.

"What? What is it?"

"There's a decision going to be made here tonight."

"What decision?"

"Which one?"

"What do you mean by 'which one?'"

"There's two major choices, actually. All I know is that one of them is going to be made by you. I only came to wish you good luck!"

"Wait, wait, wait. How do you know this?"

"Eh," she shrugged her shoulders. "Word gets around. I'm only the messenger. There's a prophecy, though, if you're curious in it."

"Of course I'm interested! Tell me," she said eagerly.

Rachel took a deep breath before reciting the message.

"_Two wishes born through great accord, inevitable path to blood and sword; _

_One fulfilled through favorable charm, the other with intent to harm; _

_Strife to stir and anger fast, until devotion prevails at last." _

Annabeth's heart froze in her chest.

"That's all I know," Rachel admitted. "Whatever it means, I'm sure you'll do fabulously. Or not. It's all kinda up in the air at this point."

Annabeth tensed. That certainly didn't make her feel any better. Her head pounded, the prophecy repeating over and over in her mind like a broken record.

"Hey, princess, don't fret! It's best not to worry about these things too much. Before I leave, I _do_ have a little present. It's kind of useless to me, really. But hey! You know what they say: one girl's trash is another girl's helpful plot device, or something."

"What in the world? That doesn't make any sense! I've never even heard of that phrase before!"

"Well, now you have." The mysterious girl sunk her ring-laden hand into her pants pocket, pulling out a jewel-encrusted compact. "Just a good luck token."

She placed the compact in her hands. Opening it revealed the image of Annabeth; it was a mirror. She failed to see how this could ever be useful (except maybe to Silena), but none the less, Annabeth smoothed the dust out of the corners of the compact and placed it in her pocket.

"Thanks, Rachel."

"No problem. Hey, if it makes you feel better, one thing's for certain."

"What?"

"No matter what happens, you're in for quite the adventure!"

The strange girl's laugh echoed through the halls as she turned and left the princess, cowering inwardly at her doorway with nothing but a gaudy mirror-compact, a doomed plan, and a brave heart.

**. . .**

Annabeth's mother had some very eccentric friends.

The one called Demeter had so many flowers in her hair that it was like a traveling, shampoo-scented garden. She was shoving a large bowl of cereal in her daughter's face with a very serious facial expression. It sounded like she was simultaneously lecturing her about whole grains _and _nagging about her daughter's husband, expressing her distaste with him as it fell on deaf ears.

Artemis was in attendance, as usual, standing around with Cereal Lady and her daughter. She was expressing her distaste with husbands in general.

As her eyes searched the parlor, Annabeth recognized a fair number of guests, but she couldn't find the one she was desperately seeking for.

Her mother was conversing with some weird dude in socks and sandals, arms full of drink goblets. Annabeth wondered if the guy had any idea that it was only cranberry juice; her mother always said liquor turns even the wisest of minds into a fool.

She couldn't bear to make eye contact with her mother, not after what had happened the night before. She knew her Athena was still furious with her, and it was only about to get ten times worse from here. The guilt for her disobedience crushed her heart, and Annabeth had to try hard to stay focused with the task on hand. The realization that she was the worst daughter ever kept distracting her. At this rate, Cereal Lady probably loved her daughter more than Annabeth's mother loved Annabeth, and that pair seemed pretty at war with each other.

Part of Annabeth was happy that her guest hadn't shown up tonight. Now she wouldn't have to make that awful choice, and she wouldn't have to hurt her mother anymore, and she could just go back to living her above-sea level life and forget about everything that was ever important to her and live a blissfully ignorant, lonely life in peace.

She was feeling almost a sense of relieve with the whole situation- that is, until she spotted her guest.

Seated basking in the darkness, save for the glow of the window's moonlight, Hecate was all alone. Nary a soul wanted to talk to her, much less acknowledge her arrival. Annabeth sadly related with that.

She smoothed her sweaty palms on her dress and steadied her nerves. _Don't blow your chance. You can do this._

"Hecate," she greeted. "H-hello."

"Young daughter of Athena. "

Her mind was racing, deciphering what to say next and how exactly to say it and where to begin. It was more like disabling a bomb about to explode than having a conversation.

Before she could say anything, the woman with eyes as black as night spoke.

"It seems you're at a dreadful impasse."

"What? How did you-"

"Do not try to fool me, young daughter of Athena. Crossroads are my specialty." Hecate smiled, her black-as-night eyes playful with mischievous light.

"I…well, you see, I wanted to ask for advice."

"You want something more than advice."

"I need a favor." Might as well be outright, Annabeth figured. This woman wasn't kidding around, and feigning boldness seemed to be the best possible approach.

"Oh, everyone _always_ does. And I never grant those, naturally. Favors are such pesky little things, hm. "

Annabeth's heart sunk, but her determination refused to waver.

"Why not?"

"I'm afraid that's not how things work, dear. Getting something needlessly with no effort is always a recipe for chaos. And believe me, I've met Chaos herself- _not _someone you'd want to invite to a dinner party, to put it mildly."

"Oh…"

"That said," the woman continued, glaring out the window, "Sometimes favors can come in handy, especially when there's something in it for me."

Hecate's voice perked at the last part of her lament, Annabeth shuffled her feet, concern bubbling up in her stomach as she meekly wandered what this woman could possibly want from her. From the tone of her voice, Annabeth had a feeling she wouldn't be interested in any monetary gain the princess could offer.

"Where are you going with this?"

"Annabeth Chase," she addressed the princess by name for the first time, sending shivers down her spine. "I know of your dilemma, and I can help you out. But I can only take you so far. The rest will be up to you."

"That's…that's pretty vague."

"I'm all about the mystery, but when it comes to details? I'm afraid we'll need take this up elsewhere, if you want those."

"I'd like that, but…that's the problem. I can't leave." She threw a glance across her shoulder to the other corner of the room, her gaze landing on her mother. She groaned. "My mom has me under pseudo-castle arrest."

"Perhaps _you_ are, but I am not."

She rose, dusting the wrinkles out of her dark, ebony robes.

"Follow," she commanded Annabeth as she made her way out of the ballroom.

During the hustle and bustle of the noisy gathering, no one noticed the eccentric pair taking their leave. However, just as Annabeth had predicted, her mother was serious about keeping Annabeth from leaving the castle. Two Royal Guard members stood watch in the lobby.

"Oh, no you don't," Clarisse blocked the door with her spear. "You aren't going anywhere, princess," she snarled.

"She's with me," Hecate said nonchalantly, as if she were bored with the whole thing.

"Yeah right," said the other guard, a boy known as Michael Yew.

"We have direct orders from Queen Annabeth not to let Annabeth leave this castle," Clarisse declared.

Hecate raised one of her hands, a surreal purple mist forming around her fingertips. In an instant, the guard's spears disappeared.

"What the- HEY!"

The two wardens look at each other with disbelief in their confused eyes.

"Any more questions? If not, good, because it'll be YOU next time." Hecate gently pushed them aside and headed out of the building, looping an arm around Annabeth's shoulders as she paraded her along.

As they stepped outside beneath the starry sky, Annabeth could hear the trailing footsteps of two freaked out guards, running to alert their boss.

**. . .**

The tide was high that night, the waves turning alive with pent up energy.

The salty sea air filled the princess' nose, dulling her senses. She knew that this was an awful idea, so why was she doing it?

"Annabeth Chase," Hecate announced, "I can make you into them."

Annabeth's only response was a stony look, doing her best do conceal her spurning.

The blood red polish of Hecate's nails glinted in the dark as she snapped her fingers. A slip of paper appeared in her grasp. It was a drawing, a drawing of a mermaid. Annabeth immediately cursed herself for trusting Rachel- she knew that the Oracle had known more than she was letting on. The image Hecate had spawned was so obviously Rachel's drawing style, no doubt about it.

"Time is of the essence, so I'll cut to the point. You have three options. This is your first decision: you'll become a mermaid, but only temporarily. After the dawn of the seventh day, you'll become a human girl once more and never again will my powers be able to return you to the sea."

"My other options?"

"Option number two: I turn you into a mermaid permanently. You'll be a part of the precious world you always dreamed of, the world of your dreams, but you cannot return to your previous life ever again."

"Go on. The final option?"

"Lastly, you simply do nothing and stay human, letting the world below pass you by; and yes, it WILL pass you by. I can personally guarantee that your contact with that world will never happen again…unless you make one of the first two choices."

Annabeth's heart and mind began to race. Dealing with Hecate was always very risky business, and she knew better than to be here right now. But, desperate times had called for desperate measures.

"What do you want from me?" The question begged to be asked, so Annabeth decided to get it out of the way sooner than later.

The mysterious, shadowy woman chuckled.

"Sky and sea have been separated for far too long, in my opinion. Sometimes even wisdom can be too wise for itself," she grinned and winked, "It can make a person blind."

"And by making one of these decisions, I'm going to fix that?"

"That's unknown, but regardless of what happens, I can promise you'll at least become a glimmer of hope where there is none, and that is better than nothing."

Alright, that was the end of that. The decision was cemented. This was dumb, and Annabeth knew better. This plan was so poor that it might as well as had a sign with big flashing letters than read _"BAD IDEA." _She thought back to the prophecy, and the lines Rachel had so ominously muttered. Maybe it had been talking about turning these offers away, no matter how desirable they sounded to Annabeth. It was all she had ever wanted, but she knew that taking up Hecate's ultimatums would most likely turn out really, really poorly. Still, what if she needed to make the hardest decision of all in order to save those around her from the fate about to unfold? What was the hardest choice? Leaving her mother behind forever to chase her dreams? Leaving her dreams behind entirely? She thought she knew what to do, but then she thought of Percy's laughing, smiling face…

She was so confused.

"I'm not sure I understand," Annabeth murmured.

"But I do." Annabeth whipped her head around to see a very angry Thalia standing behind her, her sword drawn towards Hecate. "I understand that you're brain dead, Annabeth. "

"Thalia," she gasped, "What are you doing here?!"

"Oh, you know, nothing much, just saving your royal butt. Nothing new."

"I can make my own choices," Annabeth snarled.

"No you can't_, princess_," she sneered at the word. "You can't do anything right. You're being selfish and stupid."

Now Annabeth was mad. Blood pumped profusely behind her cheeks, making her cheeks blush red. She stopped thinking clearly, thought clouded by fury.

"She'll take that third option, thanks," Thalia growled at Hecate, who hadn't done anything about Thalia's weapon pointed at her neck.

"You know what, Thalia? I'm tired of you treating me like an idiot!"

"I only treat you that way when you're being one! Just like your mom does!"

That was enough to send Annabeth overboard. Her whole life had been colored by lonely, misunderstood moments, feeling lost in her mother's shadow. She might have acted smart, but most days, she just felt like a failure in comparison. She couldn't live up to the standards her mother's people wanted her to be, she couldn't be a socialite, she couldn't be a proper princess, she just couldn't do anything right. And she was sick and tired and done with it all.

"FIRST OPITION," Annabeth snapped at Hecate, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Hecate smiled ear to ear.

"Excellent choice."

The world around her blurred and twisted and became distorted, the winds picking up violently. They swirled around Annabeth in a strong storm, a mist of kaleidoscope colors traveling with it. It picked her up and sent her levitating, hovering mid-air. She had to force herself to focus and stay present, her head spinning and her breath leaving her lungs. It felt like, if she wasn't careful, she would fly right out of her body. She had to concentrate really hard, but she could hear the faint screams and harsh protests of her old friend.

The sparkling mist engulfed Annabeth entirely, and blinding beams of light shot from a source Annabeth couldn't place. Before she knew it, she was terrified and falling, being thrust into the ocean waves. Her mind was swimming and disoriented. It wasn't like the time before, when the Cetus had ripped her from the boat. No- this time, she wasn't in any pain, and although she was terrified, it wasn't of the water. She tried to move her arms, her hands, her anything in some desperate attempt to see what Hecate was transforming her into, but she couldn't budge.

"Go, my dear! Depart from this place! Good luck!" Hecate beckoned.

"ANNABETH! YOU'VE JUST BEEN TRICKED! DUPED! TAKEN FOR A FOOL! YOU'RE THE WORST, THE LITERAL WORST! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" Thalia raged, flinging insults into the night air.

These were the last things she heard as she was pulled away by the waves, sinking into deep dark waters. She didn't know what had happened to her, but one thing was for certain: she definitely wasn't a human girl anymore.


	8. Love Like Brine Shrimp Pizza

"I must say, Thalia," Hecate chuckled, "I'm rather thankful for your arrival. Without you to set her off, Annabeth's skepticism would have never allowed her to take the plunge!"

Thalia Grace was shaking with anger.

"You're disgusting," she snapped. "Maybe the others are scared of you, but I'M not. FIGHT ME!"

"Charming girl," Hecate's voice was oozing with sarcasm. "I could decimate you on the spot, or perhaps turn you into a polecat or a toad or some other curious creature, but I won't. I'm done here."

With a sweep of her dark robes, she turned from Thalia and the shore, walking off into the night.

"Done? DONE? Oh no, lady, you're far from done here. I'll kick your butt into next week, you coward!"

"Everything is set in motion, Thalia Grace. Now, shut your mouth, or your friend won't be the only princess in danger."

Thalia's eyes grew as wide as the moon, staring in disbelief.

"Who told you about that? WHO GAVE YOU ANY RIGHT TO KNOW?"

"I know many things, daughter of Zeus. You get all mad at your friend for withholding secrets, but then you do the same thing to her? Seems a little hypocritical to me, don't you think?"

"I am NOT a freaking princess! Not anymore! Artemis set me free of that responsibility years ago- ugh, I'm not wasting any more of my breath on you," she snarled. Her rage began to dissolve into fear as Hecate continued onward, leaving her alone with Annabeth somewhere out there in the depths of the ocean.

"If you don't get back here and fix this right now, I-I'll…I'll…I'll tell Athena!"

Hecate only laughed, as though the threat was a mildly amusing joke.

"My dear," she turned around to flash her caliginous eyes at Thalia, "how can you tattle on someone who never even arrived in the first place?"

And in a fiery burst of thick black smoke, she vanished into thin air.

**. . .**

As Annabeth sunk to the ocean floor, she slowly regained her senses.

She'd been underwater before, of course, but it had never felt like this. A tremendous weight had been lifted from her shoulders, leaving her feeling light as a feather.

She opened her eyes- a thing she'd never been able to do while submerged in water, except for when she was in Percy's air bubble. The stray rays of moonlight danced in the water, reflecting off her body and surrounding her. When she craned her head upwards to gaze up at the world she once knew, she saw something curious floating on the surface. It took her a moment to register the fact that the floating heap of soaking wet clothes was, in fact, her own.

_Oh no. _Was she naked?!

She took a sigh of relief to realize that Hecate had been generous enough to not leave her bare. She didn't quite know what to make of whatever she had been given, though; it was some sort of swimsuit material, a tight, shiny blue tankini with a shimmering golden bow fastened to the chest. It was undoubtedly stylish (she must have been hanging out with Aphrodite or something), but what did she think Annabeth was doing? About to become a showgirl? Weird. Annabeth would have thought she would have been poofed into a shell-bra, but it seemed like that would have been too predictable for Hecate. She _was _all about the mystery.

An unidentifiable object was sinking down from the clothes heap, fallen out of her dress pocket, no doubt.

_Rachel's good luck token_, Annabeth thought.

She swam over to snatch it, an action that came as easy as thinking.. The swift movement of cutting through the water startled Annabeth; it felt so much different from stumbling around in an air bubble.

She unclamped the compact, which apparently was coming in handy after all. The person she saw inside of the mirror was unrecognizable.

Her teeth were razor sharp, her gray eyes crisp and clear like an overcast sky. Two translucent, frilly fins protruded from the sides of her face. Blonde hair surrounded her face like a golden halo, the tresses gently hovering in the water. The flaps of skin on each side of the base of her neck were collapsing and folding, moving water in and out like the gills of a fish. But the person in the mirror was certainly not a fish…

She touched the compact's glass, admiring the beautiful reflection. The person in the mirror was the person she'd been dreaming of becoming her whole life, except for now, the person _was_ her.

She was a mermaid.

Her eyes shot down to her legs- or, at least, where her legs normally would have been. In place of her familiar limbs was a sight that took her breath away. She had a tail, a magnificent, beautiful tail, a tail that had sparkling, gray scales and tailfins that shone white like snow.

She laughed aloud, watching bubbles escape her mouth. She was joyous and ecstatic and perfectly happy with her transformation. Suddenly, the stress of prophecies and disappointed mothers floated away, making room in her heart for rolling waves of euphoria so big they rivalled even the strongest of storms.

She swam in circles, flipping and spinning and laughing and feeling perfectly at peace with her new form.

_Stupid Thalia_, she thought with triumphant pride, _I got exactly what I wanted!_

She'd become the deplorable sea-scum her mother despised. She'd never been happier.

With an entirely new world in her midst, she realized all the things she was free to do now. She could explore the city without fear of being caught as a human, she could get the answer to every question, she could meet every last one of the merfolk….she could see Percy again.

_Percy!_

She swam off as fast as her thrilled fins could take her, elated and determined to find him again.

**. . .**

Earlier that day, the sunset was setting on the kingdom, bathing it in rich, warm hues of pink light. He was out in the anemone gardens with his father, and the regular hustle-and-bustle sounds of the people wrapping up another day echoed from the city in the far off distance.

The times when he got to see his busy father were always his favorite, and today was no exception, even though he knew that he would have a lot of explaining to do.

"Where were you last night, Percy? Don't tell me you forgot your own birthday, son."

"I was with a girl," he confessed up front, watching the restless schools of clownfish weave in and out of the anemones.

"A girl?" His dad smirked a little, which was only a cue for the oncoming onslaught of questions and eventual teasing awaiting Percy. "You've never told me you had a special little ladyfriend."

"Well, I do. I guess I haven't known her for very long, though. "

"Well? Go on! Tell me about her, loverboy," he elbowed his son playfully, making Percy flustered.

"She's just incredible, like no one I've ever met. She's wicked smart, even though she kind of likes to rub it in my face sometimes, and she's beautiful, and kind, and sweet, and kind of sassy actually-"

"You sound just like me when I first met your mom," the king chuckled heartily, affectionately mussing up the young prince's hair. "So you love her, eh?"

"More than brine shrimp pizza," he declared, smoothing his hair back in place.

"You haven't even told me her name. Just how long do you plan on keeping your poor old man in the dark?"

Percy laughed. "It's Annabeth. Blonde hair, gray eyes, tan skin, etc. Are those enough details for you or are you not satisfied yet?"

He still held Annabeth's gift gingerly in his grasp, his gaze drifting down to the foreign object for the million time since he'd received it.

"What the heck is that?"

"A birthday gift," he explained. "It's kind of a treasure where she's from."

"Well, it's obviously valuable, but what _is_ it?"

"It's called an 'owl.'"

"A what now?"

"An owl."

"Hmm," Poseidon scratched his beard in thought, trying to process this new information. "An ow-eel, you say? You know, I was positive that I was well acquainted with every deep-sea creature, but I've never met an ow-eel before. You did say she was foreign, right? Is she from the South Seas, by any chance?"

Percy sighed sadly.

"It doesn't really matter, dad."

"What?! What in the name of the Bermuda Triangle are you talking about, boy?! My son finally finds a girl he fancies and it doesn't matter?!"

"I can never be with her," he said, heartbrokenness seething through his words.

"Why not?"

"Well, dad, it's because she's a…"

His heart was heavy like a thousand anchors.

"A what? Go on, spit it out. Don't make me drag the details out of you like I always have to."

Percy watched a jelly fish pass by with sad eyes, dreading this conversation.

"Come on, son. I just want you to be happy. Is she a commoner? Because that's perfectly fine, you know that very well. Your mother was a commoner, after all."

"No," he sighed, "Definitely not a commoner."

"Then what? A siren? An undine? Tell me!"

"A human."

"…what?"

"A human, dad. Annabeth is a human girl."

"Percy…I don't know what to say."

"You said you just want me to be happy, right?"

"Of course, son, you know that's all I want for you, but….there's reasons we stay away from humans, Percy." His father's attitude had turned from optimistically amused to weary and disappointed in an instant. He put a reassuring hand on Percy's shoulder, trying to get through to him.

"She's not like what you think, dad."

"_She_ might not be," his eyes were rife with sadness, "But her people are."

"How do you know that?!"  
"Just trust me on this one."

"I always trust you, dad, but please- just listen to me for once."

"It's just not going to work, Percy. I'm so sorry."

And he truly was sorry to see his son so miserable. This had to be some cruel trick of fate, making him fall for a human. How ironic; under normal circumstances, he might told his son the timeless metaphor that, when it comes to dating, there are other fish in the sea- except for his son wasn't interested in anything the sea had to hold. He only wanted the girl on land.

**. . .**

As they ventured out much farther than usual, their night walk was becoming more of a night sulk.

_Dude, this sucks. I'm sorry, _Frank tried to comfort his friend.

"I'd do anything to be with her," he said.

_Look, man…what if she doesn't even like you like that? You guys haven't known each other for very long, and you seem to be pretty head over tailfins for her-_

"You think that I thought she liked me back? Nah, there's no way."

_Say what now?_

"It's okay with me, though. I just wanna be with her, you know? Being best friends would be more than enough for me."

_What do you mean by "there's no way?" I never said that-_

"She's like nothing I've ever known before. For the first time in my life, a girl actually liked me for, well, me and not who they thought I was. She actually listens to what I have to say even though I'm kind of stupid-"

_I get it, Percy! You really care about this chick with the nubby leg things! But it would take a miracle-_

"I could use a miracle," Percy sighed.

"A miracle, you say?"

Frank and Percy turned around to see a woman approaching. Her frizzy black hair was in pigtails, and her black eyes gleamed behind a goofy pair of lime green goggles. In place of a mermaid's tail were the beastly tentacles of a white squid.

_Where the heck did she come from?!_

"Uh, yeah…" Percy eyed the woman suspiciously.

"Sorry, so rude of me!" The woman laughed, grabbing Percy's hand and shaking it. "I'm Keto! I just happened to be passing through when I overheard your predicament. I think I can help."

_No, thanks._

"Oh, come on Frank, let's at least hear her out."

Keto stared blankly at Percy.

"…ah, are you talking to this lil' guy?"

"Yeah. Can you not hear him?"

"No," she lowered her head sadly. "I've only ever been able to communicate monsters. Some people might call it a curse, but I'd say it's a blessing. Beautiful, wonderful, breath-taking beasts…"

_This lady is nuts._

"Forgive me, I get so lost in thoughts of monsters! Anyway, I know a miracle man, one who can help with all sorts of things. I was actually on my way there now- care to join me?"

"Sure, why not? We'll go."

"No! He's quite peculiar and only takes one client at a time, I'm afraid," she said, "So your fishy friend will have to go later on his own," she oozed at Frank condescendingly.

Percy gave Frank a cautious look.

"Is it alright if I catch up with you later?"

Frank sighed.

_There's no stopping you of all people, but…be careful, okay? Don't hesitate to bust some heads if things get rowdy._

"Alright, dude."

"Excellent!" Keto smiled. She pointed the far off distance, where a large forest covered as far as the eye could see. "We just have to go through that first."

"Okay," Percy agreed. "Then away we go."

**. . .**

"This way, this way!" Keto's bubbly voice squeaked as she beckoned him forward.

To get to the forest, they had to swim past the giant skeletons of whales and sharks and beasts, all of which had long since died. All around them, the waters were unnaturally quiet. It felt like this place was weighed down with an incredible sadness, concealing bittersweet secrets and tragic stories no one would ever know. Percy didn't recognize the way they were taking; he'd never been, and his father had never taken him here. It wasn't hard to see why. This place was hideous.

Percy smacked the kelp out of his eyes, only to be hit again. He wondered how long they would have to maneuver through this dark green forest before they'd reach their destination. Being nestled inside all of these plants made him uneasy; it was really hard to see where they were going, and even harder to tell where they had been. Thick tendrils of kelp and seaweed stretched all the way up to the surface, so high that he had to crane his neck all the way back to see the extent of their height. To make matters worse, the waters were thick with smog and muck, making his eyesight hazy.

The farther they went, the more he wanted to hightail it out of there. Deep down in the pit of his gut, he was feeling apprehensive; his dad wouldn't like this at all. Instinctively, he rubbed Riptide's ring from on his finger, considering sliding it off to be armed for good measure. Not that there was anything to be concerned about, though. After all, he was pretty darn experienced in combat and not too shabby even when it came to being without a weapon. He could handle himself. Even still, the waters grew colder and darker and sent chills rippling down his spine. But every time he thought about turning around, a certain girl's hearty, honey-sweet peals of laughter echoed through his ears. He kept going.

"We're here!" Keto pushed the last of the leafy green flora out of the way, reaching the end of the forest, but no light poured through the opening. In fact, it was as though whatever lay ahead was _darker._

Not only was it darker, but it was downwards, too. The kelp forest opened to reveal a steep drop-off, the small opening of a cave waiting at the bottom.

"Come along, come along!"

"Well," he grimaced, "Let's go see the Miracle Man."

Against his better judgment, Percy continued onward.

**. . .**

Phorcys' cave was not a place you'd want to hang out in unless you were_ really_ desperate.

The whole place reeked of sulfur, and was in dire need of some lighting. Splatters of some unidentified substance were smeared across the walls, along with decaying plants stuck in the cracks and crevices of the cave stone. Percy spied a couple of chambers and passages, all too dark to see where they led.

In the center of it all was a cauldron. It didn't look like anything was inside of it, but with the stomach-turning smell in the air, Percy figured the thing could have been a giant fancy toilet. Percy also realized how stupid that thought was- keeping your toilet in the center of your front room- and imagined that Annabeth would have slapped him for that.

"Ah, Keto, you've brought visitors, I see!"

The self-proclaimed Miracle Man looked like he needed a few dozen miracles himself. One of his black eyes was placed higher than the other, and they seemed to lull around as they pleased. Scars covered his ugly face like paint, and he was a few teeth shy of a full set. He was apparently fond of flashy clothing, wearing a cheesy dress shirt with ruffles at the collar. From the waist down, he had the body of a Japanese Spider Crab, which is as jarring as it sounds. Percy could hardly make eye contact.

"Hello, hello, young prince! They call me Miracle Man, Dream Maker, Great Chancellor of Wishes, but you can call me Phorcys," he took a bow. "And I see you've already meet Keto."

He waddled around from his cauldron to make his way to shake Percy's hand.

"Uh, I'm Percy Jackson, and-"

"No need for introductions! Of course I know who you are!"

"Who doesn't?" Keto giggled.

"Alright then. Well, I-"

"You're in want of a miracle, of course!" Phorcys chuckled a deep, throaty laugh, Keto harmonizing with her own high-pitched giggles. "Well, Mister Son of Poseidon, you're in the right place!"

He clamped an arm around Percy's shoulder and ushered him over to the cauldron, Keto bouncing along behind him.

"So, what will it be? Money? Power? Weight loss?"

"Ooo, that's a popular one," Keto chimed.  
"No, no, no! No, all the usual ones won't do. What would the young prince want with any of these?! I mean, just look at him," Phorcys gestured, "The spitting image of his dear old daddy! Oh, he_ really_ does have it all, right Keto? I'm sure your girlfriend thinks so, too!"

"Yes, yes, your girlfriend," Keto echoed.

"Uh, I don't actually have a girlfriend," Percy admitted.

"What? Keto, did you hear that?" Phorcys gasped.

"No girlfriend?! Did she break up with you?! What a monster- and not the good kind, either!"

"No, no break-up or anything…I guess…well, I've never actually had one before," Percy shrugged bashfully.

"Oh," Phorcys said, "Don't be discouraged, young prince! I'm sure you'll find a girl who catches your eye eventually."

"Perhaps he already has!"  
"Ah, so true, Keto! Have you already found that girl?"

"Yeah."

The pair laughed again, but Percy didn't find any humor in the situation.

"So you want a love potion? Another girl to make her jealous? A seven-mile parade in your honor?" Phorcys continued ecstatically. "Bulk up?"

"Uh-"

"Ooo, bulking up is also a popular option," Keto nodded.

"NO! Uh, I mean, no thanks," Percy said, "I don't need any of that."

"What? 'Need?' My boy, we don't use that word around here," Phorcys smiled darkly. "Needing is so…bah! No fun in that. No, we operate in 'want' in my house of miracles," he spread his arms in a flashy manner, gesturing to his 'house of miracles.' Percy thought the only thing miraculous about the place was how miraculously messy it was.

"I don't think what I need- er, want- is possible, actually."

"Don't insult me like that," Phorcys interjected.

"Phorcys is the most talented in all the ocean," Keto crossed her arms.

"You guys are awfully nice, really, but I think I had the wrong idea in coming here," Percy said, inching away from them towards the exit. "Thanks anyway, though." He turned his back on the showy duo, swimming away.

Phorcys voice switched from show tune-singing ham to insidious businessman.

"Annabeth will be sorely disappointed, then," the crab man chuckled.

A puff of white smoke boomed in the cauldron.

Percy turned around immediately.

"How did you-"

"Don't underestimate me, Jackson," Phorcys said cheerfully.

The smoke began to stratify, swirling and transforming into a familiar scene: Annabeth in the Cetus' grasp.

Keto made a strange expression. "What a beautiful monster, so exquisite... Oh! I mean, the girl is pretty, too, of course."

Phorcys shot her a quick look that _screamed enough with the fangirling over monsters already_, but regained his grandiose mask just as quickly.

Percy stared at the sight in front of him in disbelief.

"Did you truly think she'd be safe back on land?"

"What?!"

"Someone is out to get your ladyfriend, Percy Jackson. That much is for sure," Phorcys face was filled with concern. "Call it fate, call it coincidence, but something has brought us together here today. We can help poor Annabeth, you know."

"How?!"

"Oh, she requires _you,_ of course! So unprotected, so weak-"

"She's definitely not weak," Percy protested, raising an eyebrow. "And she's not unprotected, either. She has that scary friend with the spiky hair…"

"Bah! Typical boy," Keto scoffed, "Not seeing through such schemes! Do you really trust her scary friend?"

"Keto is wise," Phorcys agreed. "You say she has a protector, but where was this 'friend' when the monster attacked? Annabeth would have been dead meat had you not been there."

"I bet that 'scary friend' is the one behind all this," Keto closed her eyes and nodded.

Percy's eyes widened as he begun to think it all over.

"Well, we'll never know the end of this tale if you don't take action. And your poor ladyfriend," Phorcys waved his hand through the smoke, sending it dissipating into bubbles. "Her fate certainly cannot be good…"

The image of Annabeth, limp and lifeless as she was dragged into a watery grave, returned to Percy's mind.

"Alright. What do we do?"

Phorcys chuckled.

"Not 'we,' boy! _You_. What do you WANT to do?"

He thought for a moment.

"I want to go to land," he decided.

Phorcys clasped his hands together.

"Ah, to be a human! Perfect. And hardly a difficult thing, either."

"Really?"

"Only for the great Phorcys!"

Keto and Phorcys exchanged another set of laughs, which was seriously beginning to grate of Percy's nerves.

"The price?"

"No price," Keto sported a big monstrous grin. "We help people; it's what we do!"

"What's the catch?" Percy asked.

"Return to the saltwater and your flesh and bone will scorch with searing pain," Phorcys stated calmly.

"What the heck?! What kind of a catch is that?!"

Phorcys shrugged. "I don't make the rules, kid. Oh- but that won't last forever. You give your little ladyfriend a smooch? You become a merman again and everything is back to normal."

Percy didn't realize that he was blushing a little.

"Hahaha! See? All is well! You go up there, keep her safe from who knows what, have your fun, give 'er a kiss, and come home."

Percy gulped, thinking it over. What's the worst that could happen, after all? And hey, even if things did go the path of disaster, he could just steal a quick kiss and make a dive for the water and forget the whole thing ever happened. As far as he was concerned, maybe it was time to live a little.

"Maybe I should tell Frank or Grover that I'm leaving for a little-"

"And have them tell your father that you're a human? Percy, Percy, Percy," Phorcys shook his head slowly in disapproval. "Let's not deny that merfolk have some deep-rooted speciesism against humans. Can you imagine if they found out their prince was romping about on land? What would your father say?"

Percy considered Phorcys words.

"So? Do we have a deal?"

"Yes. We have a deal."

At Percy's conformation, Keto began snatching up vials and bottles in a whirlwind flurry, throwing them to Phorcys who was tossing them into the pot and letting glass fly everywhere. If it weren't for Percy's keen reflexes, he would have needed a healing miracle, too. The entire process was baffling and chaotic, explosions of colored gas shooting out with every broken flask. A tumultuous, wild look was plastered on the face of both Keto and Phorcys as they set to work.

"Helping people! It's what we do!" Keto giggled, sounding deranged.

Phorcys stood over his concoction, chuckling with great pleasure as whirling gusts and smoke surrounded him. Keto retrieved a ladle, preparing a bottleful of the magical liquid. She shoved it into Percy's hands.

"Go on," Phorcys urged. "Live your dreams!"

The elixir was a deep pink color and sweet to the taste, like a fruit juice. Percy drunk it swiftly and waited a moment.

"…this was all a big joke, wasn't it?" He understood all the laughing from earlier now. He'd just been a part of an elaborate trick, the son of the sea god swindled into prank.

Phorcys and Keto stood together, smiling.

"You guys really got me-"

A freezing sensation spread through his veins, chilling him at his core. His sea green eyes widened as a shock as sharp as a jellyfish sting rippled through him. His body trembled.

"Won't be long now," Phorcys speculated. "Best get going before you drown!"

He swam as fast as he was able, shaking and twitching and feeling like he'd just taken a swim through the Arctic and become a fishsicle.

Laughter echoed through the cave as Percy left, desperately fighting for his life. Paddling perilously as his body began to transform, he was almost out of energy. He willed the water to take him the rest of the way, exhausted.

_The surface_, he thought to himself weakly. _That's all I have to do. Get to the surface._

He was inches from breaking through to air when he remembered Phorcys' words: "return to the saltwater and your flesh and bone will scorch with searing pain." Getting to air wouldn't be enough. If he didn't get out of the water before his transformation was complete….

He mustered the final bits of his livelihood, knowing he wouldn't make it alone. Rolling white waves propelled him forward, but not fast enough. His tail felt as if it was melting away into sea foam. He would need more help.

_Listen, anyone out there! It's the son of Poseidon! Help me get to shore, NOW._

He closed his eyes, his desperate plea being answered as a shark swam up from the kelp forest.

_Hey bud, you doing okay there? Because it doesn't seem like you're doing too okay. _

He took Percy on his back.

_Not one for talking, eh? Son of Poseidon...Better get you to shore then. Don't want any trouble with the Boss._

They sped for the shore, Percy holding on for dear life.


End file.
